INDEPENDENT EVIDENCE-BASED EXPERIENCED

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Independent professionals from every stage of a death investigation.

Meet the Team

NorthStar Forensic Consulting was founded by Ryan Jensen, a forensic consultant and death investigation specialist with more than two decades in Minnesota public safety and medical examiner systems.

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Ryan Jensen Founder & Forensic Consultant

With more than 20 years of experience in public safety, forensic services, and death investigation, Ryan Jensen brings a unique combination of investigative experience, forensic knowledge, public safety leadership, and a genuine passion for helping people find answers.

Ryan's career has included serving as a Police Officer, Forensic Autopsy Technician, Medicolegal Death Investigator, and Senior Death Investigator, as well as Program Manager for the Minnesota Department of Public Safety's Minnesota VINE (Victim Information and Notification Everyday) program. Ryan also serves as a part-time death investigator for Anoka County. His NorthStar work is separate from his county role, and NorthStar does not accept matters connected to it. Throughout his career, he has worked closely with law enforcement, medical examiners, victims, families, attorneys, and public safety professionals. His experience includes participating in more than 2,000 autopsies and approximately 800 death investigations, giving him firsthand knowledge of the death investigation and medical examiner process—from initial response and scene investigation through autopsy, documentation, and the pursuit of answers within the available record. In 2025, Ryan received the Minnesota Department of Public Safety's Team Player Honorable Mention Award in recognition of his work supporting crime victims and their families following the Annunciation Church incident, including helping connect victims and families with valuable financial, mental-health, and other resources.

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Ryan is also passionate about helping crime victims and families navigate complicated systems and find the resources they need. He understands that the death investigation process can be confusing, overwhelming, and filled with unfamiliar terminology. His approach is to take complex forensic and investigative information and explain it in simple, understandable language, so people can better understand what happened, what the process means, and what questions they may want to ask.

Above all, Ryan believes that working with families requires empathy, compassion, patience, and respect. Every case represents a person, a family, and a story, not simply a file or investigation.

Scene response · autopsy suite · medical examiner process · victim services.

Every stage of the process, seen from the inside

Ryan's roles trace the full arc of a death investigation:

  • Police Officer
  • Forensic Autopsy Technician
  • Medicolegal Death Investigator
  • Senior Death Investigator
  • Program Manager for the Minnesota Department of Public Safety's VINE program

That path put him at more than 2,000 autopsies and roughly 800 death investigations, standing at the same points where families, attorneys, and agencies later come looking for answers.

Building a Team of Experience

NorthStar Forensic Consulting was created around the belief that clients deserve access to experienced, independent, and objective professionals when they have questions about a case.

Ryan has assembled a team of professionals with extensive backgrounds in public safety, forensic investigations, death investigation, and related disciplines. Together, the NorthStar team can provide organizations, public safety agencies, law firms, and families with experienced perspectives when reviewing complex information and cases.

Our role is to examine the information available, identify relevant facts and issues, explain complicated findings in understandable terms, and provide a neutral, fact-based perspective.

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We don't approach a case with a predetermined answer. We approach it with questions:

  • What do the facts tell us?
  • What information is available?
  • What may be missing?
  • What questions should be asked?

Sometimes a consultation may provide the clarity someone needs without additional services. Other cases may require a more comprehensive review or specialized expertise. When additional resources are appropriate, NorthStar can help identify the next step.

Our Mission

Whether we are working with a family trying to understand a loved one's death, a crime victim looking for resources, an attorney evaluating a case, or a public safety organization seeking an independent perspective, our goal is the same:

To provide experienced, independent, compassionate, and fact-based forensic consulting that helps people understand complex cases and move toward answers and clarity.

Law enforcement investigation, forensic pathology, and death-investigation consulting.

The NorthStar Team

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Brent W. Petersen

Law Enforcement Consultant & Expert Witness

Areas of Expertise: police use of deadly force; homicide and death investigations; police policies and procedures; criminal procedure; investigative practices; sexual assault investigations; interviewing and interrogation; crime scene investigation; law enforcement training and peer support; public speaking; expert witness testimony.

Brent Petersen is a retired law enforcement professional with 27 years of experience in criminal investigations. He has served as primary investigator in 1,000+ criminal investigations and 50+ police officer use-of-deadly-force investigations, including the high-profile cases of George Floyd (Minneapolis, 2020), Justine Damond-Ruszczyk (Minneapolis, 2017), and Daunte Wright (Brooklyn Center, 2021). He also co-founded the BCA Force Investigations Unit to investigate incidents involving law enforcement use of deadly force and other critical events. NorthStar accepts use-of-force matters only outside Minnesota.

His career included various positions with two mid-to-large city police departments as a patrol officer, detective, sergeant, crime scene investigator and field training officer, as well as a Special Agent with the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA). These positions developed proficiency in frontline and investigative law enforcement operations. Over nearly three decades in law enforcement, Brent became best known for his skill as an interviewer and interrogator, often being called upon to handle delicate or difficult cases requiring exceptional patience, diplomacy, and discretion. Examples include trauma-informed interviewing, cognitive interviewing, and working with child victims and witnesses as a certified child forensic interviewer.

An accomplished public speaker, Brent has created 75+ seminars for conferences and law enforcement in-service trainings, and has been a guest speaker at colleges and law schools on a variety of law enforcement topics including homicide and death investigations, interviewing and interrogation procedures, criminal procedure and investigations, police use-of-deadly-force, sexual assault investigations, and sex trafficking. One of his cases was featured in CBS' production "48 Hours," episode: "What the Neighbors Saw," which originally aired March 21, 2026.

Brent's professional experience also includes a fellowship with the Ramsey County Medical Examiner's Office, and advanced forensic evidence gathering and crime scene processing. He has prepared for and testified in hundreds of state and federal court proceedings and trials.

Brent retired from active-duty law enforcement in July 2026. As a consultant, he is currently available for speaking engagements, death and homicide case review, forensic consulting, independent evaluations of law enforcement practices and procedures and law enforcement training. He is also available as an expert-witness in the following types of cases: homicide and death investigations, interviewing and interrogation procedures, criminal procedure and investigations, police use-of-deadly-force, and sexual assault investigations.

Dr. Huston, M.D.

Forensic Pathology Consultant

Dr. Huston is a board-certified physician with over 30 years of experience in forensic pathology and medicolegal death investigation. He earned his medical degree from the University of Iowa before completing his pathology residency at the University of North Carolina in 1997, where he was the Chief Resident and Anatomic Pathology Fellow from 1997 to 1998, followed by a fellowship in forensic pathology at the Milwaukee County Medical Examiner's Office in 1999.

His professional career has included more than two decades of service within medical examiner systems. He served as an Assistant Medical Examiner with the Anoka County Medical Examiner's Office from 1999 to 2008 and subsequently served with the Ramsey County Medical Examiner's Office from 2008 through 2026.

Dr. Huston is licensed to practice medicine in both Minnesota and Wisconsin. His extensive experience in forensic pathology and death investigation provides NorthStar Forensic Consulting with specialized medical expertise for independent, fact-based review of complex cases.

At NorthStar, Dr. Huston contributes an objective medical and forensic perspective, helping attorneys, agencies, organizations, and other clients better understand medical findings, the death investigation process, and the evidence surrounding a death.

Conferences & Professional Training

Dr. Huston is also available to provide professional training, educational presentations, and conference instruction on forensic pathology, medicolegal death investigation, and related topics. His experience offers a practical perspective for medical examiner and coroner offices, law enforcement agencies, attorneys, public safety professionals, and other organizations seeking specialized forensic education.

Bring Us What You Have. We'll Tell You What It Says.

Book a 60-minute consultation Or call 612-305-8189.