Man sentenced for murdering a Mahnomen couple had issue with medications

Darby Miller, the executive director of the Center of Human Environment says Timothy Thorson went off his medication a few days before the murders.

Miller says Thorson was worried changes in state medical insurance would cause him to run out of medication and that he was stockpiling the pills in his room.

Earlier this year, Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty took steps to phase out General Assistance Medical Care which would have pushed clients to plans like MinnesotaCare and could have meant a temporary gap in coverage.

While the legislature reinstated GAMC, the program was scaled back. Miller says the change did have some ramifications because some patients couldn't find providers in rural Minnesota who would accept the coverage.

In fact, only 4 hospitals in the state do and all 4 are in the Twin Cities. Thorson was sentenced to 66 years in prison after pleading guilty to the murder charges.

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