Appeals court: Elderly man incompetent for murder trial

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — The Minnesota Court of Appeals has affirmed a lower court ruling that an elderly South Dakota man accused in a 1974 fatal stabbing isn’t competent to stand trial.

New DNA testing led to the arrest of Algene Vossen in the death of 74-year-old Mable Herman of Willmar, Minnesota, who prosecutors said had been stabbed 38 times.

Vossen, now 80, was questioned shortly after the body of the victim was discovered by her sister. But it was only after advances in DNA testing and another look at the case that Vossen was arrested decades later in Sioux Falls where he had been living.