Inset, left to right: Jacob Kempainen (Cerro Gordo County Jail) and Alvin Kempainen (Memorial Chapel Funeral Services).
A Michigan man, aged 22, has been sentenced to decades behind bars for the murder of his grandfather, a tragic incident that unfolded in the elderly man’s residence. The young man, Jacob Kempainen, later made a bizarre claim that his 87-year-old grandfather was possessed by “spirits.”
On Monday, Judge Brittany A. Bulleit of the Houghton County Circuit Court sentenced Kempainen to a term of 15 to 50 years in a state prison for the 2023 murder of Alvin Kempainen. This sentence follows Kempainen’s plea deal, where he admitted to open murder, leading to the dismissal of charges for conspiracy to commit murder and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, as indicated by court documents.
In a related development, Margaret Kempainen, the victim’s daughter-in-law and Jacob’s mother, faces murder charges for her alleged involvement in Alvin Kempainen’s death.
According to authorities, Jacob and his mother, who were residents of Wisconsin, traveled to Michigan where they purportedly committed the murder. They were subsequently apprehended in Iowa.
As previously reported by Law & Crime, officers from the Houghton County Sheriff’s Office were dispatched around 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday, December 19, 2023, following a request for a wellness check at a residence located on the 53000 block of Salo Road, near Lake Superior.
Upon arrival, the officers discovered Alvin Kempainen with a gunshot wound to the head. Tragically, he was declared deceased at the scene.
Investigators were able to quickly identify Margaret and Jacob Kempainen as potential suspects in the fatal shooting, according to a report from Marquette, Michigan, NBC and Fox affiliate WLUC. They were reportedly located in Minnesota, driving south on Interstate 35 toward Iowa. Authorities contacted the Clear Lake, Iowa, police department and officers were able to apprehend the duo when they stopped at a local gas station.
Additional details about the investigation were revealed in court documents obtained by Minneapolis-based online news site, Bring Me the News.
According to the report, authorities in Minnesota executed a search warrant on Jacob Kempainen’s Minneapolis apartment in connection with the murder investigation.
The warrant reportedly states Margaret Kempainen’s husband, who is also Jacob Kempainen’s father, told authorities that on Dec. 7, 2023, his family left him in Wisconsin and had not contacted him since leaving. However, he told authorities that after seeing a debit card transaction in Bruce Crossing, Michigan, he believed his family was traveling to his father’s home to “get money,” leading him to fear the older man was in trouble.
Alvin Kempainen reportedly texted his son at 9 p.m. on Dec. 18, 2023, that the family — which he referred to as “the crew” — had just arrived at his home. He then stopped responding to additional messages and calls from his son.
Following the arrests, Margaret Kempainen allegedly told police that her son was the one who killed Alvin Kempainen, but both suspects reportedly made numerous outlandish claims about the circumstances of the shooting.
For example, Jacob Kempainen allegedly told police that when they arrived at Alvin Kempainen’s home, they believed the 87-year-old had already been killed by malevolent spirits and that the individual in the home was “not grandpa.”
“[Jacob Kempainen] advised that the spirits stated grandpa opened the well up behind the house and the spirits killed him,” the search warrant reportedly states.
Similarly, Margaret Kempainen reportedly said that Alvin Kempainen was “not her father-in-law,” claiming that he had been moving around “like a 20-year-old.”
Per the report, investigators even noted that the mother and son’s stories were eerily similar to the events in M. Night Shyamalan’s film “The Visit.”
The search warrant reportedly states that Minnesota authorities were authorized to seize any “evidence of paranormal activity, spirits, possession of bodies including but not limited to the 2015 movie ‘The Visit.’”
Margaret Kempainen remains incarcerated without bond. A date for her trial had not been scheduled as of Monday.
