Terry Brisk was a 41-year old, Married father of 4. He was killed while deer hunting, alone, on his parent’s property on November 7, 2016. The murder occurred between the hours of 2:30 and 4:30 pm on property located at Belle Prairie Township, northwest of the intersection of Hawthorne Road and Jewel Road, northeast of Little Falls Minnesota
Terry had taken the day off work, unknown to his wife, but not shockingly, as the Minnesota Firearms Deer season had just started 2 days prior to his death. Terry’s family had done fairly well hunting over the weekend, but he still wanted to get a deer on his license - and the weather that day was perfect, unseasonably warm, clear skies and little to no wind.
Terry was found dead in the woods that afternoon by his oldest son, who had came out to join him in the hunt after school.
Terry was found dead, from a single gunshot wound inflicted by his own rifle. Police have ruled out suicide as the rifle was found hidden some distance from his body, and the particular model of rifle he hunted with has safety features which make it difficult if not impossible to commit suicide. Also the angle and impact suggest someone who was close to him, but not himself as the shooter.
Speculation has ranged from a trespasser on the property looking for Agates (rocks) or possibly another hunter - again on the property illegally. Terry’s family have repeatedly said that he would never have threatened or shot at anyone first and strongly suspect that he encountered someone unexpectedly.
Law enforcement have recently (2022) indicated that they are looking for a Blue Van or Mini Van that was possibly in the area on that day.
There is a $30,000 reward being offered for any information that results in an arrest or conviction in the case.
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This is the living definition of a difficult to solve murder: he likely had no clue who it was who he ran into, and they likely had no real motive for killing him beyond convenience.
I wonder if there was any touch DNA able to be recovered from the rifle?
It’s a interesting curiosity that his own rifle was used - as someone familiar with firearms, i would not be confident picking up another person’s firearm and using it right away because it might have a safety or what not that i was unfamiliar with, or the weapon could have been unloaded at the time, etc etc. Just very risky to pick up another guy’s gun and use it against him in a setting like hunting where there’s so many variables.
Also a curiosity how he got the gun off the dude - i can’t imagine him handing it over willingly to some trespasser, and it’s also difficult to imagine a scenario where a trespasser could gain control without a scuffle at least.