An Iowa man received a life imprisonment for the murder of a close friend with whom he got into an argument over a joke involving mayonnaise.
He was sentenced to life imprisonment after killing his friend in a fight over mayonnaise
Kristofer Erlbacher, 29, used his pickup truck to ram 30-year-old Caleb Solberg outside a cafe in the small town of Pisgah last December 17, 2020.
According to police reports, after ramming Solberg, Erlbacher drove away from the scene, only to return and run him over twice more.
The two had been drinking at a bar with someone else earlier that night near Moorhead, Iowa, but things took a turn when Erlbacher smeared mayonnaise on Solberg’s food, which irritated Solberg and sparked a bar fight, local media outlet Woodbine Twiner-Herald reported .
An angry Erlbacher called Solberg’s half-brother, Craig Pryor, on his way to the cafe and threatened to set Solberg’s house on fire and shoot him, the newspaper said.
Pryor later arrived at Dave’s Old Home in Pisgah, where another confrontation was brewing.
Erlbacher eventually rammed his truck into Pryor’s and then rammed Solberg.
“Erlbacher’s first blow to Solberg did not kill him. He can be heard yelling for his brother, Craig Pryor,” U.S. District Judge Greg Steensland wrote in the verdict, according to the Twiner-Herald.
“Instead of simply walking away, Erlbacher went down the street, turned around and returned to strike Solberg a second time. To make sure he had completed the job, Erlbacher drove his truck over Solberg one last time,” he added.
Erlbacher then drove off, but his truck broke down soon after. Over the phone, he told Pryor that he had killed Solberg, according to the verdict.
Erlbacher was convicted after a bench trial last December and sentenced Monday to life behind bars.
