Deputy Magnuson was shot and killed while stopping a car that had run through the Canadian border crossing at the Roseau Port of Entry. The suspect had shot him ten times with a .22 caliber rifle. Unbeknownst to Deputy Magnuson the suspect had murdered three young people in Canada before fleeing into the United States. The man was arrested and extradited to Canada where he was sentenced to life for the first murders.

Deputy Magnuson had been with the agency for only two months and was survived by his parents.