Man sentenced in Cass court to five years in death of brother

WALKER -- A St. Cloud man who killed his brother in a fight near Deer River was sentenced Wednesday to five years in prison.

Robert Alan Anderson, 46, had pleaded guilty in Cass County District Court to second-degree manslaughter in the death of Dennis Anderson of Avon. Robert Anderson will have to serve at least three years and four months in prison before he can be considered for early release.

Anderson pleaded guilty in June, about a month after a Cass County jury failed to come to a unanimous verdict on manslaughter and second-degree murder charges at Anderson's trial.

He was ordered to pay $18,189.54 in restitution.

Robert Anderson argued at his trial that he acted in self-defense when he stabbed his brother, who was 49. He also said in an earlier interview with the St. Cloud Times that he pleaded guilty to avoid a longer sentence that comes with a murder conviction. The brothers fought late Nov. 22 and early Nov. 23 at a deer-hunting camp.

(This story includes information from the AP.)