OTTER TAIL COUNTY, Minn. — A 33-year-old Minnesota man already facing manslaughter charges for allegedly letting his injured girlfriend die in a bathtub rather than call for help is not the only one in legal trouble now. His mother has been charged with felony counts of aiding an offender — and the two are being held at the same county jail.
What happened the night of May 2
Nichole Shoultz, 40, died after a car crash in the early morning hours of May 2. According to investigators, her boyfriend, Allen Alberts, was with her when the crash happened — but instead of calling 911, he brought her back to their home and placed her in a bathtub, allegedly in hopes of “waking her up.”
Shoultz had an active no-contact order against Alberts. Investigators say that is the reason he did not call for emergency help. He was afraid that police would find out the two had spent the weekend together and that he would be arrested for violating the order.
Shoultz remained unresponsive throughout the night. She never received medical attention. By the time she was brought to a hospital, she was pronounced dead.
Where his mother comes in
Pamela Breckenridge, 50, was at her son’s home that evening and, according to investigators, was woven into the events of that night far more deeply than she initially admitted.
Court records show Alberts called his mother at approximately 3:20 a.m. to come over and help him move Shoultz from the bathtub to the living room couch. Phone records reviewed by deputies from the Otter Tail County Sheriff’s Office showed that Breckenridge had received four calls from Alberts between 12:30 and 3:30 a.m. — and then placed a call to him herself at 3:32 a.m.
When deputies first spoke to Breckenridge, she gave a version of events that investigators say did not line up with the evidence. She told police she had been at the home earlier in the evening but made a point of saying Alberts was not there — an apparent attempt to conceal his presence and protect him from the no-contact violation.
After being confronted with inconsistencies, both Alberts and his mother admitted to lying. According to the criminal complaint, they acknowledged they did so because Alberts “did not want to get in trouble or go to jail.”
Breckenridge described attempting to help Shoultz herself, telling investigators: “We do the whole chest rub, trying to see if that will do anything. Um, nothing we were trying was working.” She said she even used a stethoscope to check Shoultz’s breathing, claiming it sounded normal.
The two, according to the complaint, “considered” calling 911 while still at the house — but chose not to.
The charges
Alberts has been charged with second-degree manslaughter and remains held at the Otter Tail County Detention Center on a $500,000 bond. His next court date is May 18.
Breckenridge was booked into the same facility on May 8, facing three felony counts of aiding an offender. She is scheduled to appear in court on June 3.
