Craig Alan Hameister was captured after fleeing Kellogg and climbing a tree near Chester Woods.
CHATFIELD, Minn. — A murder case that began at a Kellogg boat launch and ended with a suspect hiding in a tree has resulted in a 415-month prison sentence for Rochester resident Craig Alan Hameister.
Hameister, 45, was sentenced Monday for killing Melissa Hunt, 36, on June 18, 2025. He pleaded guilty to second-degree intentional murder and admitted he shot Hunt in the face with a handgun. The sentence amounts to about 34.5 years in prison, with credit for 327 days already served.
The search for Hameister began after Hunt arrived at a home near Kellogg with severe facial injuries. Authorities said she had driven there from a nearby boat launch after being shot at close range. Although she had difficulty speaking, she identified “Craig” as her attacker and gave deputies enough information to connect the assault to Hameister. She was taken to a hospital but died from her injuries. Investigators later said the wound included gunshot residue, and prosecutors said Hameister left without rendering aid or calling for help.
From Kellogg, the investigation quickly moved northwest toward Olmsted County. Court documents said detectives found Hameister’s truck at a property outside Chatfield. The truck’s door was open, and a live 9 mm round was on the floor. People at the property said Hameister had appeared frantic when he arrived. One witness told investigators he said “something bad happened” and warned that police would come. The same witness said a 9 mm handgun was missing and that Hameister had left the area on a motorcycle. Those details put officers on a new trail while Hunt’s condition at the hospital turned fatal.
The search ended in the Chester Woods area after a standoff that lasted several hours. Officials said Hameister climbed a tree in an effort to get away from police. Officers eventually took him into custody. At the base of the tree, investigators recovered a 9 mm handgun. The location and the weapon tied the end of the manhunt to the evidence investigators were assembling from the boat launch, the truck and Hunt’s statements. The Wabasha County Sheriff’s Office and the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension later received public thanks from Attorney General Keith Ellison for their work on the case.
Hameister’s arrest did not immediately settle what had happened at the boat launch. Hunt had first told deputies she had been hit with a stick. Court documents said officers did not find a stick or similar weapon at the launch, but they did find an unspent 9 mm round. An autopsy then showed gunshot residue in the wound. The record released publicly does not explain why Hunt described a stick while badly injured. Prosecutors moved ahead with a case built on the forensic evidence, the recovered handgun, the ammunition, the vehicle trail and Hunt’s identification of her attacker.
Hameister was charged with two counts of second-degree murder and one count of manslaughter. One murder count alleged intent without premeditation, while the other alleged an unintentional killing during a felony. His defense team later filed motions that would have narrowed or changed the case if a judge had granted them. They sought dismissal of the intentional murder count and tried to suppress Hameister’s statements to law enforcement. Prosecutors answered with notice that they would seek an aggravated sentence, arguing that the facts showed particular cruelty and planning. The prosecution said Hunt suffered a gunshot wound that caused multiple facial fractures and that Hameister failed to seek help.
The legal path shifted in March, when Hameister pleaded guilty. At the plea hearing, he said, “I shot Melissa Hunt in the face.” He also admitted that he caused her death with a handgun and intended to kill her. The plea gave prosecutors a conviction for second-degree intentional murder without a trial. Ellison said after the plea that Hunt’s death had shocked the conscience and that the case demanded justice. His office handled the prosecution after Wabasha County Attorney Matthew Stinson referred the matter to the state.
The May 11 sentencing set the punishment in months, the way Minnesota courts commonly state prison terms. Hameister received 415 months. The court also ordered him to pay $10,134.97 in restitution. The public sentencing release said Hameister would serve the sentence for the June 2025 murder in Kellogg. It did not identify any additional pending charges after the plea and sentence. The plea resolved the earlier counts that had been filed after his arrest.
Hunt’s role in the investigation remained clear through the case. She survived long enough to get away from the boat launch and reach a residence, where she gave deputies key facts despite the damage to her jaw and mouth. Earlier reports based on court documents said she described Hameister’s truck as a white pickup with big tires and indicated the attack happened at the new boat launch. That information led officers away from the home where she was found and toward the places where they later recovered the truck, ammunition and handgun.
The final record leaves some questions unanswered. Officials have not publicly described a full motive, and the released court summaries do not give a complete account of the relationship between Hunt and Hameister beyond identifying him as her ex-boyfriend. Prosecutors had alleged he lured her from her residence to the boat launch, but the guilty plea ended the need for a trial that might have laid out more testimony. What the sentence fixed in law was the conviction, the punishment and Hameister’s admission that the shooting was intentional.
Ellison said after sentencing that people who knew Hunt remembered her as kind, caring and loving toward her daughters. He said he was grateful to those who helped bring her killer to justice. Hameister, once the subject of a multi-county search, now faces decades in custody under the sentence imposed in Wabasha County.
As of June 3, 2026, Hameister’s criminal case stands at sentencing, with a 415-month prison term, restitution ordered and no public trial date remaining because of the guilty plea.
Author note: Last updated June 3, 2026.