{"id":58575,"date":"2026-10-17T12:53:28","date_gmt":"2026-10-17T17:53:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/?p=58575"},"modified":"2026-10-16T05:38:34","modified_gmt":"2026-10-16T10:38:34","slug":"moorhead-man-guilty-of-murdering-his-mother","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/moorhead-man-guilty-of-murdering-his-mother\/","title":{"rendered":"Moorhead Man Guilty of Murdering His Mother"},"content":{"rendered":"

Moorhead Man Guilty of Murdering His Mother<\/h2>\n

MOORHEAD, MN (trfnews.i234.me<\/a>)<\/strong> \u2013 A Moorhead man has been found guilty of first-degree murder in the 2022 stabbing death of his mother.<\/p>\n

James Diawo Kollie, 29, was convicted Wednesday, October 14, 2026, in Clay County District Court.<\/p>\n

Judge Tammy Merkins found Kollie guilty of premeditated murder in the death of his mother, Receia Kollie.<\/p>\n

Receia was killed inside her Moorhead home on December 1, 2022, according to the court findings.<\/p>\n

Kollie now faces a mandatory life prison sentence. His sentencing hearing is scheduled for December 14, 2026.<\/p>\n

Judge Finds Evidence of Planned Killing<\/h2>\n

In a 30-page ruling, Merkins determined prosecutors had proven Kollie’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.<\/p>\n

The judge found that Kollie planned the killing before entering his mother’s home.<\/p>\n

Prosecutors presented surveillance footage, purchase records, and evidence of earlier threats during the trial.<\/p>\n

Video showed Kollie approaching the home around 4 p.m. while wearing a face mask, gloves, and a jacket.<\/p>\n

He claimed he was visiting to collect personal belongings.<\/p>\n

However, the home’s security camera stopped working after he entered. His mother’s cellphone was also disabled around that time.<\/p>\n

Receia Kollie was found dead inside her home several hours later.<\/p>\n

Victim Suffered 28 Stab Wounds<\/h2>\n

An autopsy revealed Receia suffered 28 stab wounds to her face and neck.<\/p>\n

According to the ruling, three wounds were severe enough to cause death independently.<\/p>\n

Investigators later located Receia’s vehicle in Wahpeton, North Dakota, about 45 miles south of Moorhead.<\/p>\n

Authorities arrested James Kollie in Wahpeton the following day.<\/p>\n

Evidence also showed Kollie had purchased a knife, gloves, clothing, and a ski mask before the killing.<\/p>\n

The judge cited these purchases as part of the evidence supporting premeditation.<\/p>\n

Earlier Threats Presented During Trial<\/h2>\n

Court records showed Kollie had been arrested following a domestic dispute involving his mother days before her death.<\/p>\n

During that incident, investigators alleged he threatened to kill her.<\/p>\n

A recording of the November 27, 2022, dispute was presented during the murder trial.<\/p>\n

Following that arrest, Kollie was released under conditions prohibiting contact with his mother.<\/p>\n

He was required to have a police escort when collecting belongings from her residence.<\/p>\n

Prosecutors argued that his earlier threats and later actions showed he intended to kill Receia.<\/p>\n

Life Sentence Expected in December<\/h2>\n

Kollie waived his right to a jury trial, allowing Judge Merkins to decide the case.<\/p>\n

The six-day trial included testimony from 24 witnesses.<\/p>\n

Merkins found Kollie guilty of both first-degree premeditated murder and second-degree murder.<\/p>\n

The second-degree count is expected to be dismissed at sentencing.<\/p>\n

Clay County Attorney Brian Melton said the verdict reflected the strength of the prosecution’s evidence.<\/p>\n

Defense attorney Nicole Bredahl said Kollie’s legal team is reviewing its available options.<\/p>\n

Under Minnesota Statute 609.185<\/a>, first-degree premeditated murder carries a mandatory life sentence.<\/p>\n

Additional court records are available through Minnesota Court Records Online<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Kollie’s sentencing is scheduled for December 14, 2026, in Clay County District Court.<\/p>\n

I’m Adrian Cole reporting for TRF News<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 TRF News. All rights reserved.<\/small><\/p>\n

\"Moorhead<\/a>
Moorhead Man Guilty of Murdering His Mother<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

James Kollie of Moorhead was found guilty of first-degree murder in his mother’s 2022 stabbing death. He faces life in prison at December sentencing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":58614,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_wpscp_schedule_draft_date":"","_wpscp_schedule_republish_date":"","_wpscppro_advance_schedule":false,"_wpscppro_advance_schedule_date":"","_wpscppro_dont_share_socialmedia":false,"_wpscppro_custom_social_share_image":0,"_facebook_share_type":"","_twitter_share_type":"","_linkedin_share_type":"","_pinterest_share_type":"","_linkedin_share_type_page":"","_instagram_share_type":"","_medium_share_type":"","_threads_share_type":"","_google_business_share_type":"","_bluesky_share_type":"","_mastodon_share_type":"","_selected_social_profile":[],"_wpsp_enable_custom_social_template":false,"_wpsp_social_scheduling":{"enabled":false,"datetime":null,"platforms":[],"status":"template_only","dateOption":"","timeOption":"","customDays":"","customHours":"","customDate":"","customTime":"","schedulingType":""},"_wpsp_active_default_template":true},"categories":[12],"tags":[1164,5095,7412,26917,26918,2309,912,26913,26914,26920,6088,6973,151,26922,1346,26916,26915,26921,2696,11403,9450,26919,786],"class_list":["post-58575","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-crime","tag-attack","tag-brutal","tag-clay-county-court","tag-clay-county-murder-trial","tag-first-degree-murder-minnesota","tag-guilty","tag-inforum","tag-james-diawo-kollie","tag-james-kollie-murder-conviction","tag-james-kollie-sentencing","tag-judge","tag-killing","tag-man","tag-minnesota-murder-verdict","tag-moorhead","tag-moorhead-minnesota-crime","tag-moorhead-murder","tag-moorhead-stabbing-death","tag-mother","tag-receia-kollie","tag-rules","tag-tammy-merkins","tag-trf-news","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58575","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=58575"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58575\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":58615,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58575\/revisions\/58615"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/58614"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=58575"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=58575"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=58575"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}