Final Defendant in Rochester Murder Case Sentenced

Rochester, MN (KROC-AM News) - The third and final defendant in a Rochester murder case was sentenced today.

21-year-old Darien Klindworth-Woods was given a stayed 46-month prison sentence that could be enforced if he gets into trouble while he spends the next 20 years on probation. Klindworth-Woods, who pleaded guilty in May to a charge of Aiding an Offender-Accomplice After the Fact, has spent just under a year in jail since his arrest for his involvement in the September 2018 murder of a Rochester man. Two counts of second-degree murder were dropped through the plea agreement.

Klindworth-Woods was accused of serving as the driver for Malcolm Woods, who was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison for shooting and killing 38-year-old Brandon Arndt at the victim's home at Bob's Trailer Park along Marion Road in southeast Rochester. The other defendant in the case, 36-year-old Kielah Parsons is serving a 46-month prison term for her involvement in the murder.

Prosecutors alleged Malcolm Woods killed Arndt because the three defendants mistakenly believed he had something to do with a medical emergency suffered by their grandmother the day before the murder occurred. Arndt lived next door and often provided assistance to the elderly woman.

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