Man Arrested In Murder Of Minnetonka Native Allison Feldman

Scottsdale, Ariz., Police arrested 42-year-old Ian L Mitcham for the February 2015 murder of Scottsdale resident and Minnetonka native Allison Feldman. He had his first appearance in court on Wednesday morning where the judge held him on a $5 million cash bond and he was charged with first-degree murder and burglary.

According to the Scottsdale Police Department, detectives knew that Allison was killed sometime between February 17, 2015, and the early morning hours of February 18, 2015.

From an SPD press release: “From the start, we have stated that this investigation is and has been driven by forensic science and evidence. A DNA profile was developed from evidence at the scene, but unfortunately, no match was found in the current databases. In late 2017 our detectives began to work with the Arizona Governor’s Office, Arizona State Attorney General’s Office, Maricopa County Attorney’s Office, and the Department of Public Safety to expand that forensic search.”

“We were at a point of impasse,” said Scottsdale PD Assistant Chief Scott Popp. “We were out of leads and still had a very violent offender on the loose.”

Scottsdale Police said that familial DNA searches, which had not been widely used in the state, was what led to Mitcham’s arrest. The ABC television in Phoenix reported that DNA collected at the scene was a near match to Mitcham’s brother, who was in jail on an unrelated charge.

Feldman’s sister Kelly Feldman Weinblatt, who still lives in Minnesota, told The Arizona Republic that the family is still processing’ the news of an arrest.

“It’s something that we’ve obviously been wanting for a long time. We’re thrilled with that,” she told the paper. “Obviously, we’re really thankful to the Scottsdale police. We’re thrilled there’s been an arrest made.

“But at the same time, it’s bittersweet. This isn’t bringing her back. We’re likely never going to get the answers that we want,” she added. “But certainly we’re thrilled to hear that an arrest has finally been made and hopefully this will lead to some sort of closure for us. At least it’ll answer hopefully the who. I don’t know if we’ll ever know the ‘what’ or the ‘why’ but at least we’ll know the ‘who.”’