Kristofer Erlbacher: Iowa man KILLS friend in fight over mayonnaise, gets life in jail
Kristofer Erlbacher, a 29-year-old man, has been sentenced to life in prison after he brutally murdered his friend in what police reported to be a 'fight over mayonnaise.' Erlbacher had been drinking with the victim, Caleb Solberg, 30, and another person at a bar in Moorhead, Iowa on the night of the incident. The situation took a turn for the worse when Erlbacher spread mayo on Solberg's food.
Solberg was visibly unhappy about this and started a fight with Erlbacher. Witnesses reported that there was a furious verbal exchange between the two over the matter.
Erlbacher and the third person, identified as as Shaun Johnson by the Woodbine Twiner-Herald, left the bar after the altercation and drove 10 minutes to cafe Dave's Old Home, where they continued to drink. During the drive, the accused called the victim's half-brother, Craig Pryor, in a fit of rage and threatened to "set Solberg's house on fire and shoot him."
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Pryor decided to go to Dave's Old Home, supposedly to calm the situation down. Once there, he parked his own vehicle outside, but did not go inside. Johnson went outside to talk to Pryor to warn him of Erlbacher's anger.
Solberg arrived at the cafe while the pair was talking. Solberg pulled Johnson outside of Pryor's truck as he was apparently unhappy about what he had been saying about the incident at the bar earlier. They started fighting but it eventually calmed down and 'ended on its own accord,' the verdict said.
Meanwhile, Erlbacher had come out of the cafe, and reportedly told others outside "I'll take care of this." He then rammed his pickup truck into Pryor's vehicle twice. Pryor left the scene at this point. Erlbacher then proceeded to hit Solberg with his truck. The blow injured Solberg but he was still conscious at the time. “Erlbacher’s first blow to Solberg did not kill him. He can be heard screaming for his brother, Craig Pryor,” District Judge Greg Steensland wrote in the court verdict.
Earlbacher then drove down the street, turned the vehicle, and rammed into Solberg one more time; he then proceeded to run him over before driving off. “Rather than just leave, Erlbacher went down the street, turned around, and came back to strike Solberg a second time … To be sure he had completed the job, Erlbacher drove his truck up and over Solberg one last time,” Judge Steensland mentioned in the court verdict.
Erlbacher's truck broke down only a short while after he had driven off from the scene of the incident. He had also called Pryor after the incident and told him that he had killed Solberg. Erlbacher was convicted for the murder in December, 21. He was sentenced to life in prison on January 31.