Jury convicts Fry of murder, second time in his life

A Hennepin County District Court jury deliberated about four hours before convicting Bruce Fry of second-degree murder, Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman announced Thursday.

Fry, 48, of Minneapolis was found guilty Tuesday afternoon. He faces a March 7 hearing before Hennepin County District Court Judge Tamara Garcia to determine if his violent history makes him a danger to public safety and, therefore, eligible for the statutory maximum sentence of 40 years. He was previously convicted in Illinois for murder, robbery and drugs.

According to the criminal complaint and testimony during the week-long trial, police found 24-year-old Shequill Halbert stabbed to death in a south Minneapolis apartment hallway on July 13.

Halbert’s sister was friendly with Fry but told her two brothers that Fry had mistreated her. In the afternoon, they went to Fry’s apartment to confront him, but he refused to answer the door.

That evening, Halbert returned to the apartment and rang the buzzer. Apartment surveillance video showed Fry coming to the security door, but not letting in Halbert. The two men appeared to be yelling at each other but Halbert was moving toward the outside door. At that point, Fry opened the security door and moved very close to Halbert, who pushed Fry.

At the same time, the video showed Fry stabbing Halbert several times in the torso, arm and forehead with a small knife. Fry then pursued Halbert and attempted to stab him again as Halbert tried to run away through the open security door. Halbert collapsed where police found him and the video showed Fry running up the stairs to his apartment and then leaving with a backpack.

Fry’s attorney said his client was acting in self-defense and did not intend to kill Halbert.