Burnsville Woman Pleads Not Guilty to Stabbing Herself, Husband

A Burnsville woman who pleaded not guilty this week to felony assault was emotionally unstable, suffering from depression, and had just received devastating news about her grandmother on the night she was accused of stabbing herself and her husband, according to her father.

Lisa Christine Breen, 27, was charged in June with two felony counts of second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon after police say she stabbed herself, then stabbed her husband Andrew in the chest.

Andrew Breen suffered an inch-long stab wound in the middle of his chest and a collapsed lung in the June 16 incident, according to court documents.

Police say they were called to the Breens’ home that evening to find Andrew Breen holding his chest and complaining of shortness of breath. He told police that he had been stabbed by his wife, who, he said, had been drinking that evening and had stabbed herself first.

Breen’s Dakota County court file includes a letter from her father, Alan B. Nelson, written in advance of a June hearing to determine whether Breen should be released on bond.

Nelson’s letter contains “critical and compelling information” relevant to the charges against his daughter, wrote Nelson, who said he couldn’t appear at Breen’s June 23 hearing because he was accompanying his mother – Breen’s grandmother – to an oncologist appointment.

Breen’s grandmother, who helped raise Breen and “provided the single most stable relationship in her life,” according to her father, is suffering from stage 4 lung and pelvic cancer. It was that diagnosis that led to Breen’s actions on the night of June 16, Nelson wrote.

“I realize you may be tempted to dismiss my words to some degree as simply a father trying to protect his daughter, regardless of her actions,” Nelson wrote. “I beg you not to do so."

Nelson explained in a five-page letter that he has little sympathy for those who face justice for abusing or maliciously attacking others. He insisted that his daughter does not fall into this category. Nelson wrote that his daughter has “shortcomings," but doesn’t have “a malicious bone in her body.”

“She can, at times, be impatient, thoughtless and self-centered, but no more so than the average person,” Nelson wrote. “At her core, and to all [who] know her, when she is in her right mind, she is an absolutely wonderful human being."

Nelson described his daughter's behavior on the night of the alleged assault as an anomaly.

“Her actions on the night in question run so contrary to her being and true nature as to be absolutely unimaginable,” Nelson wrote.

Nelson said his is prone to “extreme anxiety and worry to the point of illness” and that she “lacks many of the fundamental tools to cope with extreme stress.”

However, until that fateful June evening his daughter had never shown any sign of violent impulses, Nelson said.

“When confronted with times of great tragedy and sorrow, she becomes stricken with terror, frustration, bewilderment and despair, and words generally provide her little comfort," Nelson wrote. "In her entire life, she has never raised a hand to anyone. She has never showed a single sign of rage, violence or aggression to anyone at any time.”

Nelson blamed himself and Breen’s mother for their daughter’s “fragile emotional makeup.”

“From an early age, Lisa has been subjected to pain and abandonment that is, in my estimation, exceedingly abnormal and beyond the pale,” he wrote. “She has lived through three divorces of her custodial parents. She has had her custody given away by her mother to her grandmother, who acted as her parent for years.”

The news of her grandmother’s imminent death was “more shocking and devastating than one can possibly fathom,” Nelson wrote.

“I could provide you literally hundreds of incidents anecdotally of abandonment and neglect she has had to suffer,” he wrote. “Suffice it to say she has had an extremely difficult and painful upbringing, and excessive fear, worry and torment were thrust upon her from a very early age.”

Breen asked the judge to consider his daughter’s “horrible childhood” in deciding whether to release her on bond before trial. His daughter has been unable to acquire “the coping skills necessary for her to successfully negotiate life when significant curves are thrown her way,” Nelson wrote.

“She has had a longstanding battle with depression and alcohol, and I have seen her try to fight her demons with courage, tenacity, dignity, perseverance and grace," Nelson wrote. "However, alcohol for her is a wolf in sheep’s clothing, always promising her relief from pain, only to extract a price after the fact.”

Nelson said the alcohol that Breen drank on June 16 contributed to her unstable state. This combined with depression and “serious personal and financial worries,” created a maelstrom of emotions that “bought her to a precipice of sanity, and the sudden and startling news of the impending death of her grandmother, whom she loves more than life itself, pushed her over the edge.”

Nelson asked the judge to send Breen to a treatment facility where her family had already reserved a place.

“She is a beautiful, wonderful, charming, delightful, intelligent, articulate, loving, caring and kind human being, whose life should not be [forfeited],” Nelson wrote. “She has tremendous value and is worth saving. She can be rehabilitated."

A judge released Breen on June 23 for inpatient treatment at St. Joseph’s Hospital in St. Paul. Upon her completion of the program in mid-July, she was released on bond, with the stipulations that she not use alcohol or drugs, that she continue in a treatment program and that she not contact her husband.

Breen herself posted this message on her Facebook page on Aug. 5:

“Thank you for all your prayers during this difficult time. I do not have much access to the Internet now, but just wanted to say hi to everyone," Breen wrote. “I’m in a lot of trouble and not sure what the future will be looking like. I won’t go into any real details, but I am facing some serious charges and have court on Monday. Please continue prayers for me and Andrew and our family. Thank you and God bless.”

Breen will face a jury trial on Oct. 11.