Grimsrud and his partner, Carl Schowalter, are two criminals who are hired by a Minneapolis, Minnesota car salesman named Jerry Lundegaard, to kidnap his wife, Jean, so he can use the ransom money to pay off the money he embezzled from the dealership he is employed at to cover his own debts, which are never clearly specified. Gaear and Carl travel to Minneapolis, Minnesota where they break into Lundegaard's home. Jean hides from them, but Gaear finds her and ties her up. They drive away, but a state trooper pulls them over outside Brainerd. Carl remembers that he forgot to put the temporary dealer plates on the vehicle, and attempts to lie to the trooper. When this fails, Jean squirms in the backseat and the trooper hears her. Gaear then grabs the trooper by the head, drags him into the ca