Trial Date Selected For Rochester Man’s Trial For Fatal Overdose

Rochester, MN (KROC-AM News) - A trial date has been set in a Rochester murder case.

43-year-old Timothy Loftus is accused of supplying a Rochester woman with the heroin and fentanyl that led to her overdose death a little over two years ago. The Rochester man is also accused of dumping the victim's body in a field east of Rochester.

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According to court documents, 28-year-old Tina Arleth was last seen alive on May 29, 2022. She was reported missing about two weeks later.

The criminal complaint filed against Loftus states that investigators later learned that she had been dropped off at his home on May 29. The charges also indicate that a review of cell phone records determined that her cell phone remained at that location until it apparently ran out of power a couple of days later.

The court document includes a witness statement by a person who told investigators that Loftus had confided in him that Arleth had died after he provided her with the opioids.

The young woman's body was discovered in the farm field near Rochester by the property owner in June 2022.

Loftus is charged with third-degree murder and a felony count of interference with a dead body or scene of death. Olmsted County Court records now show that his trial on the charges is scheduled to begin in the first week of February 2025. A pretrial hearing has been scheduled for late January.