Kasson man enters guilty plea in 2022 murder

A Kasson man has pleaded guilty to the 2022 murder of a 70-year-old Byron man.

William Isaac Shillingford, 33, pled guilty last week to felony second-degree murder with intent but not premeditated. Sentencing is set for Jan. 8, 2024, in Olmsted County District Court.

He was originally charged with two counts of second-degree murder and second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon in the death of John Colbert on May 8, 2022.

According to the complaint Shillingford drove up to Colbert’s home in rural Kalmar Township and when Colbert and his son came outside Shillingford fired a handgun multiple times and Colbert was struck.

Colbert was found unresponsive when deputies arrived and was pronounced dead after Mayo Clinic Ambulance and Byron Ambulance personnel arrived at the scene.

Shillingford had undergone a mental evaluation before being declared fit to stand trial. He initially pleaded not guilty and the trial was scheduled to start last Monday but it turned into a plea hearing on Wednesday when Shillingford entered a guilty plea.