On December 7, 2023, 20-year-old Jacob Kempainen had traveled to Michigan with his mother, Margaret Kempainen, from their home in Wisconsin. Jacob’s grandfather, Alvin Kempainen, lived in Michigan and was eventually killed by the mother-son duo.
This week, Jacob Kempainen, now 22 years old, “pleaded guilty in Houghton County, Michigan, court to second-degree murder in the death of Alvin Kempainen,” local news outlets, including NBC affiliate WLUC, reported. Since his plea, other charges, including those of an open murder and conspiracy, and firearm charges, were dismissed.
As a part of his plea deal, Jacob has been asked to cooperate and give truthful testimony against his mother, Margaret Kempainen, who has not been offered a deal. As per court documents obtained by Minneapolis-based news site Bring Me the News and reported by Law & Crime, “The woman’s husband — and Jacob Kempainen’s father — told authorities that he saw a debit card transaction in Bruce Crossing, Michigan, and believed his family was traveling to his father’s home to ‘get money.'”
⚠️ WARNING: This post contains descriptions of homicide and elder abuse
Jacob Kempainen, 22, has pleaded guilty to second-degree murder for his role in the fatal shooting of his 87-year-old grandfather, Alvin Kempainen. The killing took place in December 2023 at the victim’s… pic.twitter.com/bkUka0UOu7
— True Crime Updates (@TrueCrimeUpdat) December 21, 2025
Jacob’s father then got scared about the old man’s safety, and a few days later, Alvin Kempainen texted that the family was with him. However, he stopped responding to texts or calls after that.
It was then, on December 19, 2023, that Deputies with the Houghton County Sheriff’s Office went to the old man’s home for a wellness check. Upon arriving at the residence, which was the 53000 block of Salo Road, just a few miles south of Lake Superior, the first responders found Alvin Kempainen with a gunshot wound to his head. He was pronounced dead right on the scene, and Jacob and Margaret were identified as primary suspects.
After the authorities eventually got hold of the mother-son duo, Jacob resorted to some bizarre supernatural story to explain his grandfather’s death. He claimed that when he and his mother reached Alvin’s place, it was not his grandfather, as he was already killed by an evil spirit. According to a search warrant, “(Jacob) advised that the spirits stated grandpa opened the well up behind the house and the spirits killed him.” Margaret also claimed that Alvin was “not her father-in-law” and further claimed that the old man moved “like a 20-year-old.”
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According to WLUC, Houghton County Prosecuting Attorney Dan Helmer said, “The Michigan Supreme Court recently found, inexplicably, that automatic life without parole sentences for 20-year-olds are unconstitutional.”
Hemper further added, “Jacob was 20 at the time of the murder, and that decision took away a lot of the leverage my office had in plea negotiations. Another strong factor in this plea offer was doing whatever I can to secure a conviction against Jacob’s mother, Margaret Kempainen, for her role in this horrible crime – no plea offer has been extended to her.”
Jacob Kempainen’s sentencing is scheduled to happen within the next three months. As for Margaret, she is set to have a jury trial next month.
