A 22-year-old man has admitted to fatally shooting his grandfather under his mother’s instruction and has agreed to testify against her. Jacob Kempainen’s guilty plea to second-degree murder marks a significant development in the case.

Jacob reached a plea agreement last week, as reported by WLUC. As part of the deal, charges of open murder, conspiracy, and firearm offenses were dropped.

The disturbing sequence of events began on December 7, 2023, when Jacob Kempainen and his mother, Margaret Kempainen, left their Minnesota home. Their destination was the residence of Margaret’s father-in-law, 87-year-old Alvin Kempainen, in Wisconsin. Margaret’s husband alerted authorities after losing contact with his wife and children, fearing they were heading towards his father’s home.

He received a message from his father confirming their arrival, but after that, Alvin Kempainen ceased all communication.

Tragically, on December 19, authorities discovered Alvin Kempainen dead from a gunshot wound. Law enforcement used license plate readers to track down Margaret Kempainen and her son, apprehending them at a gas station in Iowa later that day.

But Margaret and Jacob Kempainen claimed that the man they killed was not Alvin Kempainen. A search warrant said that Jacob told investigators they believed his grandfather was already dead when they arrived at the house to “seek shelter.”

“[Jacob] advised that the spirits stated grandpa opened the well up behind the house and the spirits killed him,” the search warrant reads.

Margaret Kempainen made similar statements, telling investigators the man they found “was able to get up like a 20 year old” and was “not her father in law.”

They were headed to Iowa to “start over,” she said.

The search warrant noted that many of the claims they made about Alvin Kempainen were similar to the plot of the horror movie “The Visit.”

Houghton County Prosecuting Attorney Dan Helmer told WLUC that he ultimately agreed to the plea deal with Jacob Kempainen after learning “Iowa police did not honor his request” for a lawyer during questioning.

In court Thursday, Jacob Kempainen admitted driving the his grandfather’s house and shooting him, then shooting him again at his mother’s encouragement. His sentencing has not been scheduled, and he will testify against his mother when her trial begins next year.