Dede Evavold provided false information to the court in an attempt to delay a hearing next week on criminal charges filed against her for a violating a Harassment Restraining Order.
Evavold was charged in September 2017 with three criminal counts of violating a Harassment Restraining Order (HRO) granted by a court in Dakota County to protect David Rucki and his family from Evavold’s continued harassment.
Evavold is scheduled to appear at the Dakota County Western Service Center in Apple Valley on January 9, 2018, at 1:30 PM, for a pre-trial hearing.
On December 31, 2017, Evavold filed a letter requesting a continuance of the pre-trial hearing.
In her letter, Evavold states that Judge Philip Kanning issued an order in civil court requesting that the criminal matter be delayed until the civil case is resolved.
Evavold fails to mention that at a court hearing on December 13, 2017, Judge Kanning specifically told Evavold that the HRO has been and will continue to be in effect since July, and any violations thereof should be prosecuted prior to any determinations made in civil court.
The court has yet to rule on Evavold’s request for a continuance.
Evavold was sentenced on November 10, 2016 after being found guilty of six felony charges related to her involvement in the disappearance of Samantha and Gianna Rucki, who were abducted by their mother near their home in Lakeville, Minnesota on April 19, 2013 during a custody and divorce dispute involving their parents – Sandra Grazzini-Rucki and David Rucki.
Evavold has pattern of lying to in court documents and to law enforcement
This is the second time in as many months that Evavold has been caught lying in court documents.
Last month, Evavold falsely claimed she “filed a police report against David Rucki on 12/6/2017 with the Lakeville Police Dept…” According to Evavold’s motion, she filed a police report against David Rucki for “falsely reporting a crime” committed by Evavold.
The Lakeville Police Department later confirmed that Evavold did not file a police report against David Rucki as she claimed.
Evavold also has an extensive and documented record of making false statements to the public and lying to law enforcement.
In an interview from September 2015, Evavold told me, “I’m an honest person Michael, you’ll always get truth with me.”
The truth is that with Evavold, you get everything but the truth.
During Evavold’s criminal trial, Assistant Dakota County Attorney Kathy Keena provided the jury with numerous examples of how Evavold withheld information from law enforcement and the girls’ father about the location of the missing sisters and lied about her involvement in their disappearance.
Deputy U.S. Marshal Matthew Palmer testified that he interviewed Evavold at her home on August 25, 2015, about the disappearance of the Rucki sisters.
Palmer said he asked Evavold if the Rucki girls were in danger or dead, in which Evavold responded, “for all I know, they could be.”
Detective Kelli Coughlin with the Lakeville Police Department testified that Evavold told law enforcement at her home that she didn’t know where Samantha and Gianna were.
Evidence presented during Evavold’s trial showed that her phone contained audio files of the missing sisters talking and pictures taken after they disappeared in 2013 which helped pinpoint their location.
Court granted restraining order against Evavold
As previously reported by Missing in Minnesota, Evavold has repeatedly violated the explicit terms of her probation and the HRO by continuing to reference the Rucki family in her use of social media.
In July, a court in Dakota County has found that “an immediate and present danger of harassment” by Dede Evavold exists to warrant the granting of an HRO requested by David Rucki and his daughter, Samantha Rucki, against Evavold.
The court further found that there are “reasonable grounds to believe that [Evavold] has harassed [David Rucki and Samantha Rucki] (or minor children included in the petition)…”
Specifically, the court found that Evavold “made threats” to David Rucki and Samantha Rucki, and that “the harassment has had or is intended to have a substantial adverse effect on [David Rucki and Samantha Rucki’s] safety, security, or privacy.”
Evavold is prohibited from having any “direct or indirect contact” with David Rucki, Samantha and Gianna Rucki, and two other minor Rucki children. Evavold is also prohibited from naming “any member of the Rucki family in any blog posting, social media posting, or internet posting.”
