Jesse Bonacci-Koski

REGIONAL- A man convicted of second-degree manslaughter in the 2017 fire-related death of a Tower infant is now facing charges in the assault of an elderly Culver couple while participating in a Minnesota Department of Corrections (DOC) work release program.
Jesse Lee Bonacci-Koski, 29, was arrested Sunday and booked into St. Louis County jail in Duluth on preliminary charges of felony third degree assault causing substantial bodily harm and misdemeanor charges of criminal damage to property, obstructing the legal process, and fleeing a police officer in connection with the assault of a couple reportedly in their 70s who live in the vicinity of Schelin Lake on County Rd. 47, about a mile east of South Ridge School.
The Timberjay attempted to obtain an official incident report from the St. Louis County Sheriff’s Office and a criminal complaint from the Sixth District Court, but neither were available before Wednesday’s press deadline.
However, the newspaper spoke with the couple’s son, Brent Swanson, on Tuesday. He described the incident as it was related to him by his parents, who requested to remain anonymous.
Early Sunday afternoon, Swanson said his parents received a phone call from a neighbor reporting an unfamiliar vehicle stopped just down the street from them.
“Occasionally somebody stops because they break down or whatever,” Swanson said.
Swanson’s parents got in a golf cart and went down their driveway to investigate and provide assistance if needed, Swanson said. They found the vehicle parked in another driveway they share with a neighbor, and a man was standing outside of the vehicle urinating on the driveway. Swanson said his mother was shocked and asked what the man was doing.
“I don’t know if he said anything or if there was an exchange, but the way that I heard it is that without provocation he immediately launched at my mom and started assaulting her with punches and throttling,” Swanson said.
His father was able to separate the two, and his mother jumped into the golf cart and drove to the neighbor’s house to call 911, Swanson said. His father and Bonacci-Koski continued to scuffle, with his father suffering a broken nose and receiving multiple deep bites to his legs before breaking away, according to Swanson. At that point, Bonacci-Koski fled on foot, leaving behind a woman and a young child in the vehicle, Swanson said. Bonacci-Koski was later spotted and arrested by sheriff’s deputies.
Swanson’s parents were taken to a Duluth-area hospital, he said.
“They were both able to be treated and released right away,” Swanson said. “They’re pretty lucky that they got off as lightly as they did. It could have been a lot worse.”

Tragic history
Bonacci-Koski was convicted of second-degree manslaughter in 2018 in the death of 11-month-old Bentley Joe Lewis Koski as the result of a fire that engulfed the child’s home at 813 North Third St. in Tower the morning of Aug. 2, 2017. The infant’s parents had left Bonacci-Koski in charge of the child while they spent a night away from home. In an interview with law enforcement officers, Bonacci-Koski said he had left the infant alone in a crib on the second floor in the early morning hours to purchase drugs. When he returned about two hours later, he saw firefighters fighting a blaze at the house that apparently started in the kitchen and fled. He first went to Benchwarmers Bar and Grille, then later stole a Jeep that he drove into a ditch in Pike Township. He was taken into custody by St. Louis County deputies when he was seen coming out of nearby woods.
The medical examiner later determined that the infant had died of smoke inhalation.
A jury took less than two hours to convict Bonacci-Koski of second-degree manslaughter, as well as vehicle theft and possession of a controlled substance in the wake of that incident. District Court Judge Gary Pagliacetti sentenced Bonacci-Koski to eight years and two months in prison for the manslaughter charge, with credit given for 488 days he had already been detained. Had Bonacci-Koski been incarcerated for the full term of his sentence, he would have been released in October 2025, according to his DOC offender information listing. However, under state law, Bonacci Koski would likely have been placed on supervised release from prison in 2023. An appeal of the sentence was denied in 2020.

Work release
Bonacci-Koski was out of prison and in the region where the alleged assault took place on Sunday as a result of his admittance to the DOC’s Work Release Program, which he entered last February. Incarcerated people are eligible for the program after having served at least one-half of their term of imprisonment and are selected for the program based on current and prior criminal behavior, institutional adjustment, substance use history, and a recidivism risk assessment, according to a DOC flyer.
Bonacci-Koski’s prior record includes felony convictions in 2017 for fleeing an officer in a vehicle, violating a restraining order within 10 years of a domestic violence conviction, and possession of marijuana, and misdemeanor convictions that same year for two charges of theft. In 2015 he was again convicted of fleeing an officer in a vehicle, this time a gross misdemeanor. He was convicted of gross misdemeanor assault in 2014, felony second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon in 2013, and misdemeanor driving under the influence of alcohol in 2011.
A possible scenario weighing in favor of his acceptance into the program could be that the infant’s death in the manslaughter case was ruled accidental, suggesting that the risk of recidivism for that crime was low.  DOC representatives could not comment specifically on Bonacci-Koski’s case, so the actual factors used to determine  his acceptance are unknown.
Work release participants must be gainfully employed or enrolled in a work training program while living in DOC-contracted community-based housing or jail facility, participate in appropriate substance abuse programs, and must qualify through positive participation for short furloughs away from the program.
Court documents available online as of Tuesday did not list the location of the work release program Bonacci-Koski was associated with, but one document indicated his current address as a Duluth apartment about 22 miles from Schelin Lake. DOC has a contract with Duluth Bethel Society to provide a work-release program.
DOC Communications Director Nicholas Kimball said Tuesday that Bonacci-Koski’s weekend arrest on the assault charge would automatically trigger his termination from the work release program, and he would be returned to prison when he becomes available to the DOC. Bonacci-Koski could remain in the custody of St. Louis County Jail to await adjudication of his case if he refuses or cannot make whatever bail the court was to set at his arraignment hearing on Wednesday. The hearing was originally scheduled for Tuesday, but Assistant County Attorney Vicky Wanta requested the delay so that she could file amended charges.