Continuing investigation of the death of Francis Nelson
By: Chelsea Rarrick
Updated: September 29, 2011
An arrest has been made in Francis Nelson's death investigation.
Mr. Nelson is the Herkimer County man who was found dead in a field Tuesday morning.
There are many questions surrounding this death, such as; is it murder or a case or assisted suicide?
State police have arrested 28-year-old Jennifer Riesel of Little Falls.
She is charged with second degree murder for the death of Francis Nelson.
"Depending on where the case goes, what the exact charge will be, it could be different charges depending on where the investigation leads," said Chief Asst. District Attorney, Jeff Carpenter.
The investigation shows Nelson may have asked Riesel to end his life.
Riesel told State Police that Nelson suffered from a terminal illness and offered her $180,000 to kill him.
But, officials say they have not been able to confirm that at this time, and are waiting for a toxicology report.
Carpenter says that Riesel does not have an extensive criminal history, but now faces a second degree murder charge.
" There's a few pending charges that she has; she's got a pending grand larceny charge and a pending forgery charge," said Carpenter.
Authorities say they do not know how the two met.
"There's a small service club called "The German Maennerchor" on Main St. in Herkimer, and I believe the victim was the president, he was certainly at the club frequently and the defendant also goes to the club," said Carpenter.
Those who knew Francis Nelson, who was nicknamed "Mickey," described him as a good neighbor, and one who just simply loved to fish.
"When I first moved here, we met out here in the yard and Mickey said you sold me my first car Domenick, so we went from there. But now Mickey was a fisherman, he wasn't a kind of guy who would go around talking and talking. It he talked fishing he talked fishing," said Nelson's friend, Domenick Cecconi.
Mr. Nelson is the Herkimer County man who was found dead in a field Tuesday morning.
There are many questions surrounding this death, such as; is it murder or a case or assisted suicide?
State police have arrested 28-year-old Jennifer Riesel of Little Falls.
She is charged with second degree murder for the death of Francis Nelson.
"Depending on where the case goes, what the exact charge will be, it could be different charges depending on where the investigation leads," said Chief Asst. District Attorney, Jeff Carpenter.
The investigation shows Nelson may have asked Riesel to end his life.
Riesel told State Police that Nelson suffered from a terminal illness and offered her $180,000 to kill him.
But, officials say they have not been able to confirm that at this time, and are waiting for a toxicology report.
Carpenter says that Riesel does not have an extensive criminal history, but now faces a second degree murder charge.
" There's a few pending charges that she has; she's got a pending grand larceny charge and a pending forgery charge," said Carpenter.
Authorities say they do not know how the two met.
"There's a small service club called "The German Maennerchor" on Main St. in Herkimer, and I believe the victim was the president, he was certainly at the club frequently and the defendant also goes to the club," said Carpenter.
Those who knew Francis Nelson, who was nicknamed "Mickey," described him as a good neighbor, and one who just simply loved to fish.
"When I first moved here, we met out here in the yard and Mickey said you sold me my first car Domenick, so we went from there. But now Mickey was a fisherman, he wasn't a kind of guy who would go around talking and talking. It he talked fishing he talked fishing," said Nelson's friend, Domenick Cecconi.
