Murder suspect told authorities he shot the accused pedophile days before his arrest

A Sioux Falls man arrested on murder charges over the weekend urged police to arrest him after he told them he killed a “damn pedophile” before authorities realized the city had seen its eighth murder of the year.

Police said they were responding to a 911 call in downtown Sioux Falls early Saturday morning regarding a sex crime involving a child when they discovered the accused had been shot.

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According to court documents, 30-year-old Dylan Tyler Farmer was arrested Sunday on charges of first- and second-degree premeditated murder in connection with the death of Casey Shawn Edward Shaffer, who was found dead the previous day in an apartment at 808 W. Bailey Street.

The arrest warrant for Farmer states that police received a call around 3 a.m. Saturday from a mother requesting police attendance as she returned home from an out-of-state medical center where her five-year-old son had been examined for sexual assault she accused Shaffer of committing.

However, when police entered the apartment, “Shaffer was found lying on the floor in the living room, apparently dead with what appeared to be multiple gunshot wounds, according to the arrest warrant.” A subsequent search of the apartment found a credit card belonging to Farmer.

This prompted investigators to search Farmer's police records, which revealed that the Sioux Falls man had attempted to turn himself in at the Minnehaha County Jail the day before, telling police that he “shot that motherfucker. I shot him in the face for touching a boy.”

According to the arrest warrant, officers took Farmer to a local shelter “because there was no information at the time of (initial) contact with the defendant to support a homicide.”

It's unclear when the shooting occurred, but authorities say it occurred as the mother sought medical attention for her son in North Dakota. Authorities also aren't disclosing where Farmer was arrested, but county jail records show he was arrested at 3:50 a.m. Sunday.

Aaron Nyberg, a Sioux Falls police lieutenant, said during a news conference Monday morning that Shaffer died from multiple gunshot wounds and appeared to have been shot in the head with a small-caliber rifle.

“The detectives are actively investigating and following up on leads,” he said.