Holmberg told Stenehjem in voicemail 'he was in big trouble' after house search, prosecutor says (2024)

BISMARCK — Former Sen. Ray Holmberg told his close friend, former North Dakota Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem, that "he was in big trouble" after investigators searched the senator's home in connection to a child sex abuse case, a prosecutor said.

McLean County State’s Attorney Ladd Erickson revealed Monday, April 8, in Burleigh County District Court the contents of a voicemail Holmberg left on Stenehjem’s phone after a Homeland Security agent and Grand Forks police officer searched the senator’s home in November 2021. The search was part of an investigation that landed an indictment against Holmberg in October.

A grand jury in North Dakota U.S. District Court indicted Holmberg on charges that allege he traveled to Prague to sexually abuse a minor, as well as receiving or attempting to receive child sex abuse material. His trial is scheduled for Sept. 9.

Erickson is not a prosecutor in the Holmberg case, but he is pursuing a misdemeanor charge of speculating or wagering an official action for personal gain against Rep. Jason Dockter, R-Bismarck . Dockter is accused of using his legislative power to secure state funding so he could pay for property he acquired.

Dockter and his company, Stealth Properties, leased in 2020 a building he and the company didn’t own to Stenehjem’s office with a 10-year contract, a state audit report said. The lease was used to secure financing for the building, which the company purchased just months after signing the lease, the report said.

During the Monday hearing regarding Dockter’s case, Erickson said Holmberg left a voicemail on Stenehjem’s phone after the house search saying “he was in big trouble.” Stenehjem told his staff to tell Holmberg that Stenehjem could not talk to Holmberg, then gave the voicemail to federal investigators, according to Erickson.

Erickson declined to comment on the case after the hearing, noting that he says what he can in court. He also declined to say how he knew about the contents of Holmberg's voicemail or Stenehjem's instructions to his staff.

The prosecutor brought up Holmberg’s case while discussing emails recovered from Stenehjem’s private and government accounts.

Jeremy Turley / Forum News Service

In June 2022, The Forum requested Stenehjem's emails to determine if Stenehjem discussed $1.8 million in overrun costs his office spent on updating the building leased from Dockter and his company.

The emails, once believed to be gone forever after a staffer ordered their deletion, were copied to a North Dakota Bureau of Criminal Investigation computer after Stenehjem’s wife asked that the BCI unlock his phone shortly after his death in January 2022, according to Attorney General Drew Wrigley. The BCI is part of Stenehjem’s office.

The emails were deleted before Wrigley took office in February 2022.

Stenehjem's phone was unlocked in June 2023, and BCI agents realized the data from the device was copied to one of their computers, Wrigley said.

The Forum received roughly 2,700 pages of emails from Stenehjem’s government account, and thousands more are expected from his private one, Wrigley said.

Before the emails were handed over to media outlets, the U.S. Attorney's Office filed a search warrant for Stenehjem's phone in an attempt to recover the voicemail Holmberg left for Stenehjem, First Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer Puhl said in court. Investigators also reviewed the emails, but none were used in the federal case, Wrigley said.

Erickson said his office reviewed the government emails, but the communications revealed nothing relevant to the Dockter case. He said he’s been told the private emails also will be a “nothing burger.”

The government emails didn't mention the overrun costs, and they made little mention of Holmberg, according to a Forum review.

The McLean County prosecutor said the Holmberg case coverage has “adversely” impacted the Dockter case because he has to review Stenehjem’s emails. Even if nothing relevant is in them, Erickson said he feels he has an obligation to disclose them to the defense.

The review of the emails threatens to delay the Dockter trial, which is scheduled to start in May.

Erickson said he is trying to divorce the Dockter and Holmberg cases from each other. He noted the media has reported on Stenehjem declining to recuse himself from Holmberg's case.

It's common knowledge that Stenehjem and Holmberg were close friends. Erickson said the Holmberg case is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney's Office of North Dakota, not the North Dakota Attorney General's Office.

However, the BCI investigated the Holmberg case with federal investigators, and BCI agents report to the attorney general.

BCI Special Agent Jesse Smith is listed as a witness who could testify on data found on Holmberg's phone, state-issued laptop and emails, including his nd.gov account, according to court records.

Puhl did not respond to a message seeking comment for this story. Holmberg's attorney, Mark Friese, declined to comment, noting a protection order prevents him from discussing evidence.

Wrigley also declined to comment on the voicemail.