Rochester Man Sentenced for 2022 Murder of 28-Year-Old Woman, Drug Bust

Rochester, MN (KROC-AM News)- A Rochester man has been sentenced in a case involving the murder of a 28-year-old woman three years ago. 

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He also received his punishment for a felony drug conviction.

Tia Arleth was last seen alive on May 29, 2022 and she was reported missing about two weeks later. A local property owner discovered the young woman's body in a farm field east of Rochester in June 2022. 

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Timothy Loftus Sentenced for Murder of Tia Arleth, Drug Bust

The criminal complaint states that investigators later learned that she had been dropped off at the Rochester home of 44-year-old Timothy Loftus 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 statement from a witness who told Rochester police that Loftus had confided in him that Arleth died after he provided her with opioids. 

Loftus was charged with third-degree murder and a felony count of interference with a dead body or scene of death. 

He was also accused of illegal possession of a firearm/ammunition by a person convicted of violence, second-degree drug possession, fifth-degree drug possession, and fleeing police in a separate case. 

In a plea agreement reached in April, Loftus agreed to enter guilty pleas to interference with dead body or scene of death-conceal body  in connection with the death of Tia Arleth and a second-degree drug charge in a separate 2022 case. All of the other charges against him were dismissed. 

Read More: Plea Deal Announced in 2022 Rochester Murder Case 

On Monday Loftus was sentenced to 30 months in prison for the Arleth murder case. He was given a 100-month prison sentence for the drug case.

Court records indicate Loftus will be allowed to serve the prison sentence concurrently.