Beldo sentenced in Babbitt double murder

Roger Beldo

BABBITT- Roger Allen Beldo will spend the next 46 years behind bars for a brutal double murder in Babbitt last October. Sixth District Judge Michelle Anderson handed down that sentence on Monday in response to Beldo’s May 8 guilty plea in the case.
Beldo, age 55, bludgeoned Clifford and Christine Johnson to death at their Babbitt residence on Oct. 28, 2023, with a hammer and crowbar.
According to the terms of the plea bargain agreement, Beldo will serve 295 months for the first count of intentional second-degree murder, and 261 for the second count. The two sentences are to be served consecutively. Beldo will receive credit for 281 days already served on the first sentence.
In his plea petition to the court, Beldo stated that he killed Clifford Johnson, age 79, as Johnson was removing him from his home. “Clifford Johnson was in his garage about to take me away from the house after I loaded my belongings into his vehicle. I struck him multiple times in the back and in the head… intending to kill him.”
Having killed Clifford with a crowbar, Beldo went back into the house to kill Christine Johnson, age 78, with a hammer. After he killed the Johnsons, Beldo then drove to Duluth in the Johnsons’ car, where he turned himself in to the Duluth Police Department.
“Our thoughts go out to the family of Clifford and Christine Johnson, whose lives were stolen by the defendant’s heinous acts.” said St. Louis County Attorney Kim Maki.
“This type of brutality can deeply shake a community, even one as strong as Babbitt.Hopefully this resolution brings not only accountability but closure for their family, the community, and for the rest of the county.”
In a statement on the sentencing, the St. Louis County Attorney’s Office thanked the Babbitt Police Department, the St. Louis County Sheriff’s Office, and the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension for their assistance in the investigation. The case was prosecuted by Assistant County Attorney Amber Pederson and Aaron Welch.