Aurora Man Sentenced for the Murder of a Sauk Rapids Woman

FOLEY (WJON News) -- A northern Minnesota man has been sentenced for murdering a Sauk Rapids woman last fall.

A Benton County judge has sentenced 46-year-old Christopher Neal of Aurora to 27 years and two months in prison for strangling 38-year-old Victoria Gamble.

Neal entered a Norgaard plea in the case on Wednesday. A Norgaard plea is a guilty plea where the defendant is unable to recall the facts of the case due to intoxication, amnesia, or other circumstances.

Police were called to an apartment on 10th Avenue NE in Sauk Rapids on a report of a dead woman. Officers discovered Gamble dead and her car keys missing.

According to the charges, Gamble and Neal were seen leaving a Sauk Rapids bar together at around 1:00 a.m. on Monday, August 12th, 2024. The two are seen on Gamble's apartment surveillance entering the building shortly after leaving the bar.

Records allege Neal is seen leaving the apartment alone at around 3:00 a.m. Gamble's body was found hours later.

An autopsy by the Midwest Medical Examiner's Office determined the cause of death was strangulation and the manner of death was homicide. When police released Gamble's body to the medical examiner, they noted her car was missing from the parking lot.

Records indicate Neal was found in a Louisiana hotel with Gamble's car nearby.

According to the charges, Neal admitted to taking a car and being in a woman's Sauk Rapids apartment. However, he told investigators he had a limited memory of what happened inside the apartment and allegedly said he did not believe he killed her but admitted taking her keys.

Neal gets credit for serving just over a year in the county jail.