-Caveat Lector- Victims helped slaying suspect despite others' fears Jim Adams and Chris Graves Star Tribune Saturday, October 21, 2000 http://www.startribune.com/viewers/qview/cgi/qview.cgi?template=metro_a_&slug= homi21 Todd Mimbach's coworkers tried to convince him not to pick up his brother-in-law from jail Wednesday. But Mimbach, 32, said he had no alternative."He said, 'I need to pick him up because nobody else will,'" said Dave Clark, owner of Information Technology Partners, where Mimbach had worked for a decade and had become a senior computer technician. It would be the last time Larry S. Dame's troubled life intersected with the Mimbach family. Within 12 hours, Mimbach, his wife, Donna Mimbach, 29, and their three children were killed, apparently as they slept in their Lino Lakes house. "It's the worst scene I've seen in 24 years of law enforcement, because of the violence," said Lino Lakes Police Chief Dave Pecchia. He declined to discuss why authorities believe Dame would kill his older sister, who often invited him into her home, her husband, in whom he had confided, or their children. But Dame's family suspects mental illness was a factor. At least 30 officers spent Friday looking for Dame, who has been troubled and in trouble for at least a decade. He was released from prison in February after serving time for first-degree assault in Morrison County. Pecchia said investigators also were working Friday to determine whether Dame had been found to have a mental illness or was taking medication for one. His family members and neighbors said they had been concerned about his mental stability since he recently started talking about hearing spirits. "We told probation for the past few weeks that something is terribly wrong with him," said his mother, Hannelore Dame. "He hears spirits." Larry Dame's brother, Walter, 23, said his brother told him that "all these voices were saying we [his family] were out to kill him," because the family was trying to get him admitted to a mental hospital. Larry Dame's problems started in his mid-teens, when, after three years, he was expelled from a Christian school that his five siblings attended, said his father, Jeremiah Dame. His son enrolled at Centennial High School. "I got letters every day saying he skipped school," his father said. He said his son hung out with friends whom he wouldn't talk about and never brought home. Jeremiah Dame said Larry Dame's alcohol problems began while he was a student. He later dropped out. He moved in with friends when he turned 18. Then he ran into trouble with the law. In May 1991, Dame was living in an Osseo apartment when he and another man took Dame's .22-caliber rifle into the yard and began firing randomly, court papers say. Dame, 18, later admitted in court that he had been drunk and that he fired shots that struck a parked van. After pleading guilty to a felony property-damage charge in Hennepin County District Court, he was sentenced to three months in the county workhouse and was ordered not to use alcohol or drugs and to get drug treatment during three years of probation. He didn't get treatment and didn't pay restitution, court papers say. He was arrested and returned to jail for several weeks in 1993 and 1994 on probation violations, and completed his sentence in September 1994, records say. In July 1995, Dame used a knife to slash a man's throat after arguing with him near Little Falls, Minn. He served four years for first-degree assault before being released in February. Under his probation conditions, he wasn't allowed to use alcohol. He moved back to the Lino Lakes home of his parents and youngest brother, Walter, who said Larry was fine for about a week before he started drinking again. He often hung out about five blocks away at the Mimbach home, neighbors said. Jeremiah Dame said his son didn't talk to him much, but became close to Todd Mimbach. "Todd was a very giving person. He tried helping Larry with anything," said Christopher Langhoff, 21. He said he lived next door to Mimbach for seven years and had grown up next door to the Dame family. Larry Dame got a night job loading trucks early last summer at Sisco Minnesota in Mounds View, his father said. In August, he moved from his parents' home to a cottage unit in the Circle Court apartments in Circle Pines. He was fired in September, his father said, but initially told his family he was on a leave to get treatment for the voices he heard. "The voices talked to him at his cottage," Langhoff said. Police responded to a suicide call at Larry Dame's place last month, said Judy Koppy, Circle Court manager. Walter Dame said his brother's drinking increased after losing his job, and he sometimes downed two liters of vodka a day. "He said he drank to get rid of the voices," Walter Dame said. "He said, 'They don't come to me when I am drunk.'" Although Donna and Todd Mimbach often had Larry Dame over and helped him out, they had their own health problems. Their 22-month-old son Daniel had surgery to correct a congenital heart defect soon after his birth, family members said. Amber Duval, Donna's 9-year-old daughter from a former marriage, had spina bifida and needed surgery to help her walk. Their oldest child, John, 12, was Todd's son from a prior relationship. But Donna Mimbachs' concern for her brother turned to fear in recent weeks, friends said. The night unfolds Larry Dame, 28, had been arrested after taking one of the Mimbachs' cars earlier this month and was held in the Anoka County jail until Wednesday. Donna and Todd Mimbach were called by his probation agent to a meeting Wednesday at the Anoka County Courthouse. Donna Mimbach later told her father that the probation agent asked the couple to take Larry Dame to Mercy Hospital in Coon Rapids to be admitted, said Jeremiah Dame. Jail records show Larry Dame was released at 4:20 p.m. Before going to Mercy, the men dropped Donna Mimbach at the family's home in the 500 block of Chippewa Trail, Jeremiah Dame said. Then Todd Mimbach took Larry Dame to the hospital and waited several hours while he underwent a mental health evaluation. Larry Dame wasn't admitted. His brother-in-law drove him back to the Mimbachs' home, Jeremiah Dame said. He said his son Walter, who returned from the Mimbachs' about 10:30 p.m. Wednesday, said his brother seemed OK. But at 6:30 a.m. Thursday, a man believed to be Larry Dame was seen leaving the house. As the morning progressed, the phone started ringing at Information Technology Partners in Arden Hills. The callers wondered where Todd Mimbach was. "We called the house and paged him and we weren't able to get ahold of him," Clark said. "I thought he had been kidnapped by his brother-in-law ... I never thought he would be killed." Chief Pecchia said the second of the five autopsies was being done Friday. No cause of death was released. Larry Dame's description, 5 feet 6 and 150 pounds, has been released to law enforcement agencies nationwide. He may be driving a gold 1999 Saturn station wagon with Minnesota license plate number DDY-957. Authorities said that Dame should be considered armed and dangerous and anyone who sees him or the car should call 911 immediately. -- Staff writer David Shaffer contributed to this report. Chris Graves can be contacted at [EMAIL PROTECTED] Jim Adams can be contacted at [EMAIL PROTECTED] <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. 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