A judge, citing insufficient evidence for a trial to proceed, dismissed a case this week against a man who was accused of lighting a St. Paul apartment on fire three years ago.

Ramsey County District Judge Leonardo Castro threw out the case against Matthew Ryan Gieske on Tuesday as a jury trial was about to begin, later noting in his order that the prosecution said in court the witness who could identify Gieske as the man who started the fire would not be called to testify.

“The State did not provide a reason why it was not calling the witness,” the judge’s dismissal order read.

Dennis Gerhardstein, spokesman for the Ramsey County Attorney’s Office, said Thursday in a statement that a “key witness” had left Minnesota and could not be located for trial.

Gieske, 42, of St. Paul, had been charged with first-degree arson in connection with the blaze at an apartment building in the city’s North End neighborhood on Sept. 7, 2021. He was found to be incompetent to face the charge in August 2023, and later civilly committed for a mental illness. In July, he was found competent for court proceedings.

Partially melted gas can recovered

According to the criminal complaint, a man told police he saw Gieske holding a butcher knife outside the apartment building in the 1600 block of Marion Street. The man, who was a tenant, said he was familiar with Gieske and knew he “had displayed odd behavior in the past,” the complaint read.

When Gieske pointed the knife at the man and his sister, the man clicked his handgun’s safety and asked Gieske to get away from them, the complaint said.

Gieske left, but came back later and tried to get into the man’s second-floor apartment, the complaint alleged. The man looked out his peephole and saw Gieske and heard the noise of someone shaking a lighter fluid can.

The man said he saw Gieske holding something that was on fire, possibly a lighter, and then saw flames rush up his door. The flames entered his apartment over and underneath the door, and the man escaped via his balcony. The building was evacuated, and no one was injured.

Police recovered a partially melted gas can in the hallway and noted that the building was severely damaged by fire.

Officers made contact with Gieske, who “appeared to be in crisis and did not follow directives,” the complaint said. He was taken into custody, and the man identified him as the man at his door. Gieske declined to give a statement to police.

‘State lacks sufficient evidence’

On Tuesday, prior to calling for the jury, Castro asked the prosecution and defense about witnesses who were going to testify at trial.

The prosecution identified several witnesses, but said none would be able to identify Gieske as the person who intentionally started the fire, according to Castro’s dismissal order.

“The only identity evidence the State could offer was that the Defendant was seen leaving the apartment complex that was engulfed in flames,” the order read. “First responders were attempting to evacuate the apartment complex at that time.”

The prosecution sought to introduce body-worn camera evidence of two people identifying the clothing of a person they saw exiting the apartment building. Castro, after reviewing the body-worn footage, concluded their statements were in response to investigative questioning and “were not excited utterances,” his order read. “The statements would therefore be excluded without the testimony of the witnesses.”

Castro wrote the prosecution did not intend to produce evidence that could create a link “between (the Defendant) and the person who started the fire.”

Related Articles

Noah Feldman: The Supreme Court’s conservatives may be the end of tariffs

Charges: Former treasurer of Lakeville gymnastics booster clubs stole $80K from groups’ accounts

Jurors convict Minneapolis man of trafficking, sexually assaulting teen and woman at Mahtomedi apartment

‘You wanted to kill me,’ White Bear Lake man wrote to attacker, who received 7½-year sentence

Ex-federal agent from Eagan admits in court to recording sex acts with 17-year-old, sending the videos to her

“Other than the Defendant’s presence at or around the scene of the fire, no other evidence, circumstantial or direct, would be produced that would implicate the Defendant,” the order read.

Castro noted that, based on what the prosecution told him in court, no evidence of motive or opportunity to commit the crime would be presented at trial.

“Therefore, this Court concludes that based on the evidence that would be presented at trial, the State lacks sufficient evidence to establish probable cause and present this matter to a trier of fact,” the order read.

Gieske remains in custody on a pending civil petition as mentally ill and dangerous filed by the Ramsey County Attorney’s Office. A trial on the matter is set for Dec. 19 before Judge Timothy Carey.

By BARBARA ORTUTAY

REDWOOD CITY, Calif. (AP) — For the past decade, Dr. Priscilla Chan and her husband Mark Zuckerberg have focused part of their philanthropy on a lofty goal — “to cure, prevent or manage all disease” — if not in their lifetime, then in their children’s. But during that time, they also funded underprivileged schools, immigration reform and efforts around diversity, equity and inclusion.

Related Articles

Northern lights may be visible in parts of the US due to solar storms

Scientists spot the brightest flare yet from a supermassive black hole

How to spot November’s supermoon, the closest of the year

Skywatch: Long starry nights are back

How tiny drones inspired by bats could save lives in dark and stormy conditions

Now, the billionaire couple is shifting the bulk of their philanthropic resources to Biohub, the pair’s science organization, and focusing on using artificial intelligence to accelerate scientific discovery. The idea is to develop virtual, AI-based cell models to understand how they work in the human body, study inflammation and use AI to “harness the immune system” for disease detection, prevention and treatment.

“I feel like the science work that we’ve done, the Biohub model in particular, has been the most impactful thing that we have done. So we want to really double down on that. Biohub is going to be the main focus of our philanthropy going forward,” Zuckerberg said Wednesday evening at an event at the Biohub Imaging Institute in Redwood City, California. Three other Biohub institutes — in New York, San Francisco and Chicago, focus on addressing different scientific challenges.

Chan and Zuckerberg have pledged 99% of their lifetime wealth — from shares of Meta Platforms, where Zuckerberg is CEO — toward these efforts. Since 2016, when Biohub launched, they have donated $4 billion to basic science research, a figure that does not include operating expenses for running a large-scale computer cluster for life science research. The organization says it is now on track to double that amount over the next decade, with an operating budget of about $1 billion a year.

Last week, singer Billie Eilish told an audience that included Chan and Zuckerberg that rich people should do more to address the world’s problems.

“Love you all, but there’s a few people in here who have a lot more money than me,” she said, to a smattering of applause. “And if you’re a billionaire, why are you a billionaire? And no hate, but give your money away, shorties.”

The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, the couple’s charitable organization, has been faced with criticism recently for curtailing its other philanthropic work. Earlier this year, it stopped funding grants related to diversity, equity and inclusion, immigration advocacy and other issues currently in the crosshairs of the Trump administration — though the focus has been shifting to science and away from social issues for years, the couple says, long before the 2024 election.

“So we basically looked at the ecosystem of science funding and decided that the place that we can make the biggest impact was on tool development,” Zuckerberg said. “And specifically working on long-term projects, 10 to 15 years, where the output of them was taking on a biological challenge that would produce a tool that scientists everywhere could use to accelerate the pace of science.”

The organization earlier this year scrubbed its website’s mentions of DEI, including a statement saying “People of color and marginalized communities have experienced a long history of exploitation in the name of scientific research, and indeed science has itself been deployed as a tool of oppression.”

“Going forward, Biohub will be our primary philanthropic effort and where we’ll dedicate the vast majority of our resources,” Zuckerberg and Chan said in a blog post Thursday. “We will continue our other philanthropic efforts as well, but the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative will serve as infrastructure and support for our initiatives.”

Zuckerberg and Chan’s increased commitment to science research comes as the Trump administration has cut billions in scientific research and public health funding.

Chan, who had worked as a pediatrician and treated children with rare diseases, says what she wanted “more than anything was a way to see what was happening inside their cells — how genetic mutations were expressed in different cell types and what, exactly, was breaking down.”

“Until now, that kind of understanding has been out of reach. AI is changing that. For the first time, we have the potential to model and predict the biology of disease in ways that can reveal what’s gone wrong and how we can develop new treatments to address it,” she said.

On Thursday, Chan and Zuckerberg also announced that Biohub has hired the team at EvolutionaryScale, an AI research lab that has created large-scale AI systems for the life sciences. Alex Rives, EvolutionaryScale’s co-founder, will serve as Biohub’s head of science, leading research efforts on experimental biology, data and artificial intelligence. The financial terms were not disclosed.

Biohub’s ambition for the next years and decades is to create virtual cell systems that would not have been possible without recent advances in AI. Similar to how large language models learn from vast databases of digital books, online writings and other media, its researchers and scientists are working toward building virtual systems that serve as digital representations of human physiology on all levels, such as molecular, cellular or genome. As it is open source — free and publicly available — scientists can then conduct virtual experiments on a scale not possible in physical laboratories.

Noting that Biohub launched when the couple had their first child, Chan listed off some of the organization’s accomplishments, ranging from building the largest single-cell data set, contributing to one of the largest human cell maps, building sensors to measure inflammation in real-time in living cells and researching rare diseases.

That work continues, with a focus on using AI to advance biomedical research.

“And to anchor it back onto the impact on patients, you know, why do this?” Chan said. “It’s like, why is a virtual cell important? We have cured diseases for mice and for flies and for zebrafish, many, many times. And that’s great. But we want to make sure that we are actually using biology to push the forefront of medicine for people — and that is so promising.”

Flags in Minnesota will fly at half staff Friday in honor and remembrance of Farmington police officer Pete Zajac.

Zajac, who spent the past two years as a school resource officer, was a Farmington officer for 15 years and a Faribault officer from 2006 to 2010. The 41-year-old was married and had three children.

He died by suicide on Oct. 28, according to a social media post from the Farmington Police Department.

“Officer Zajac was known for his integrity, generosity, and ability to connect with people of all ages, earning the admiration and respect of his colleagues and community,” Gov. Tim Walz said in a Thursday proclamation ordering Minnesota and U.S. flags to fly at half-staff at state buildings on the day of Zajac’s funeral.

Zajac was born in Hastings and grew up in Wyoming, Minn. He and his family lived in Hastings for the past 11 years.

“Outside of work, Pete found joy in the outdoors — whether hunting, fishing, or spending time on the lake,” his obituary said. “He loved cheering on his children at their sporting events,” coaching football, grilling in his backyard, maintaining his lawn “and keeping his garage perfectly organized. Pete’s easygoing nature, generosity, and sense of humor made him someone everyone loved to be around.”

A GoFundMe (gofund.me/f510be74d) has been established for Zajac’s family.

The Suicide & Crisis Lifeline can be reached by calling or texting 988. For current and former law enforcement and their families, CopLine is at 800-COPLINE.

Flags in Minnesota are also currently lowered in honor of former Vice President Dick Cheney and will remain at half-staff until sunset on the day of his interment.

Related Articles

Erin Nicholson: Parents, it’s time to get mad about online child sexual abuse

St. Paul gun ordinance: From ‘100% against’ to strong support, City Council hears from residents

Family mourns mom of 4 young kids who was trapped after crash in St. Paul

Man in critical condition after being pulled from hotel pool in St. Paul

Passenger dies in fiery single-vehicle crash in St. Paul

Thirty-five years after a law school graduate was found killed in his St. Paul home, his homicide remains unsolved.

Robert Spann (Photo from Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension cold case playing card)

Robert Spann, 27, graduated from William Mitchell College of Law (now Mitchell Hamline) and was president of the Black Law Students Association.

“Today we remember Robert Spann and his loved ones,” said Alyssa Arcand, a St. Paul police spokeswoman, on Thursday. “Thirty-five years without closure for this case is 35 years too long. … Even the smallest piece of information could lead to justice for Robert.”

Spann lived with his girlfriend, who was a Minneapolis city attorney, on Marshall Avenue between Milton and Victoria streets, according to a Pioneer Press article from the week of his homicide.

Spann’s girlfriend’s teenage son found his body in the basement when he returned from school about 4 p.m. on Nov. 6, 1990.

Spann was shot and stabbed, and robbery was a possible motive as monetary items were taken from the residence, according to a cold case playing card highlighting Spann’s case that was distributed by the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.

St. Paul police are asking anyone with information to call them at 651-266-5650.

Spann, originally from Elgin, Ill., dreamed of being a lawyer since his youth. Bagging groceries helped pay his way,

He graduated from law school in 1989 and was planning to take the bar exam again.

“He always wanted to be a lawyer, to help other people,” his brother said at the time. “I hope they find who did this and bring them to justice.”

Related Articles

Burnsville PD looking for additional victims after 19-year-old charged with sex assault of 2 teens

Texts appear to show Border Patrol agent bragging about shooting a woman in Chicago

Chicago judge says Border Patrol official lied about threats before restricting agents’ use force

Appeals court gives Trump another shot at erasing his hush money conviction

Slain Minnesota missionary’s wife convicted in African court