Michael Lee Laflex (Crow Wing County Sheriff’s Office) and the Crow Wing County Sheriff’s Office (Lakeland PBS/YouTube screenshot)
A 46-year-old man in Minnesota will spend the remainder of his days behind bars for executing his daughter’s 23-year-old boyfriend inside of a storage locker after telling a witness he had “already dug the hole” for the younger man’s grave.
Crow Wing County District Court Judge Charles D. Halverson on Monday ordered Michael Lee Laflex to serve a sentence of life in a state correctional facility without the possibility of parole for the slaying of Bryce Brogle, court documents reviewed by Law&Crime show.
A jury in April found Laflex guilty on one count of first-degree premeditated murder and a lesser count of second-degree murder in the fatal shooting.
According to a criminal complaint obtained by Law&Crime, Laflex’s daughter on Oct. 28, 2022, called the Crow Wing County Sheriff’s Office and reported that Brogle, her boyfriend, had gone missing after accompanying her father to a storage unit that the older man had rented only two days earlier.
Investigators interviewed Laflex, who told police that Brogle had been placed under arrest “by unknown law enforcement” who had confiscated two phones owned by Brogle. However, the complaint states that he later changed his story, telling investigators that he had thrown out both of Brogle’s phones at a gas station in Brainerd, Minnesota. Both phones were eventually recovered by police.
A witness then came forward with damaging claims about Laflex which were allegedly relayed to the witness by one of Laflex’s family members.
“The details included but were not limited to that Michael (Laflex) believed Brogle had been abusing his daughter. (Laflex) had shot Brogle at a storage unit complex in the Ossipee area on or about the evening of 10/26/2022,” a sworn affidavit stated. “Laflex was said to have cleaned up the unit using bleach. Laflex further informed the family member that he had disposed of the body and Brogle would not be found as it had been buried. It was said some sort of a sled was used to move Brogle’s body at one point.”
Authorities on Oct. 29, 2022, executed a search warrant at Laflex’s storage unit where they say they found blood on the concrete floor that someone had attempted to clean up with bleach. There were also marks on the ground that police say were “consistent with something being dragged across the floor in a similar width to a sled.”
Additionally, the landlord of the home rented by Brogle and Laflex’s daughter contacted investigators and informed them that Laflex had called him to inquire as to whether Brogle had ever hurt his daughter.
“The landlord shared that the landlord had seen (Laflex’s daughter) with two black eyes,” the complaint states. “(Laflex) then said he was going to kill Brogle and had already dug the hole.”
On Oct. 30, 2022, authorities conducted a foot search for Brogle’s body on public land in Crow Wing County and identified a possible grave site.
“The site was excavated and a body with an apparent gunshot wound to the back of the head was recovered and transported to the Ramsey County Medical Examiner’s Office for an autopsy,” the complaint states. “The autopsy determined the cause of death to be a distant gunshot wound to the back of the head. The body has been identified as Bryce Brogle.”
In addition to his lifetime incarceration, Laflex was ordered to pay $14,596.08 in restitution and court fees.
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