North Dakota Man Pleads Guilty to Attempted Murder

GRAND FORKS, N.D. (AP) — A North Dakota man accused of shooting a couple in a van in a dispute over a former girlfriend has pleaded guilty to two counts of attempted murder.

The Grand Forks Herald reports (http://bit.ly/FOmMEn ) that Jason Alan Mize, 30, of Hoople, will serve up to 12 years in prison, and will have eight years suspended and be on probation five years following his release. Mize entered his guilty pleas Friday.

Mize was accused of shooting Thomas Scott Denault, 43, of Park River, and Sierra Dawn Hobbs, 19, of Crystal, on Nov. 24 while they were sleeping in a van in the Northern Valley Growers potato warehouse north of Hoople.

Mize and Denault had a fight earlier about Hobbs, an ex-girlfriend of Mize's. All three worked at Northern Valley Growers.

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Information from: Grand Forks Herald, http://www.grandforksherald.com

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.

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