LUTSEN – Monday was another noteworthy day for Bryce Campbell.
Campbell, the owner of Lutsen Resort, is accused of burning down the lodge in February 2024 to collect an insurance payout. Judge Michelle Anderson denied a request this week from Campbell’s attorney to dismiss the case due to lack of probable cause.
Last December, Campbell was arrested by special agents from the Minnesota Department of Public Safety’s Bureau of Criminal Apprehension and charged with arson and insurance fraud in connection with the fire.
Campbell’s attorney, Eric Newmark, filed a motion to dismiss the charges in early June. He filed a brief explaining why the case should be dismissed Aug. 21, citing, among other things, the fact that fire investigators could not pinpoint an exact cause for how the fire started. If the authorities don’t know exactly how the fire started, how can they charge Campbell with arson, and subsequently with fraud, reasoned Newmark in his courtroom filing.
Judge Anderson felt different about the situation.
In her brief, submitted late in the night of Nov. 8 and registered in the court system this Monday, Anderson wrote: “The State has put forth evidence of financial motive to set fire to the building to collect the insurance proceeds. The evidence the court relies upon includes the financial records submitted, comments made by (Campbell) to others, and the investigation into the fire itself. The evidence reveals (Campbell) was aware there were not any registered guests on the evening of the fire. There is also evidence that immediately prior to the fire (Campbell) entered the building in a manner to avoid being seen by the night manager and that he spent time in the area where the fire was determined to have originated. Evidence reveals that he was in the building longer than it would have taken for him to retrieve the item he said he was retrieving from in his office.
Campbell’s whereabouts on the evening of the fire was revealed by resources available to law enforcement including surveillance footage along his traveled path. (Campbell) had various explanations of where he was on that evening. His initial reports in the insurance investigation differ from what later investigation uncovered. The investigative reports note that the smoke in the lobby area was noticed by the night manager within five minutes after Defendant was believed to have left the building. (Campbell) was on the hillside near the location of the resort during the firefighting efforts. He did not check in with the responders or the night manager but watched the fire from that location.”
Following his arrest, Campbell posted bail and continues living on the North Shore. One of the conditions of his release is that he’s not allowed to leave Minnesota. He’s appeared before a Minnesota judge numerous times since he was arrested in December. His next appearance will be at the end of this month in a scheduling conference to set a trial date.
Judge Anderson’s ruling this week describes evidence filed by the prosecution, led by Assistant Minnesota Attorney General Dan Vlieger, who previously told the court that Campbell being linked to starting the fire is largely supported by the fact he was in the lodge just minutes before the fire was first detected, which was around 12:20 a.m. Feb. 6, 2024. After initially telling investigators he was not on site soon before the fire started, Campbell later admitted he was inside the building less than 30 minutes before the fire was reported to the authorities. This was a massive shift from his original story that he was asleep at his condo near Two Harbors after picking up a Domino’s pizza.
Campbell and Lutsen Resort were also saddled with significant financial woes leading up to the fire, something the state points out repeatedly in its memo specific to the probable cause claim. Just prior to the fire, Campbell and his businesses owed more than $14 million in past-due and near-due debts, while sitting on a mere $34,000 in their collective bank accounts. The National Bank of Commerce in Duluth reportedly issued a default letter on one of his mortgages for Lutsen Resort less than two weeks before the fire. Lutsen Resort was not going to make payroll the week of the fire, according to court records.
“When you consider motive, means and opportunity, taken as a whole and in conjunction with one another, this was not an accidental fire,” Vlieger wrote in his Sept. 21 filing.
In her ruling, Judge Anderson made it clear that proceeding to trial does not make Campbell guilty of the crimes he is accused of. That will be up to a jury of Campbell’s peers to determine, she explained in her nine-page order from this week.
A court date is set for Nov. 30 to determine a pretrial and trial date in the case against Campbell and this unfolding situation involving the February 2024 fire at Lutsen Resort.
This newspaper, along with “The Fire: A North Shore Story,” a podcast focused on the fire at Lutsen Resort, will share updates accordingly.
