Iowa man sentenced to life in prison after killing his friend in a fight over mayonnaise

Kristofer Erlbacher murdered his friend Caleb Solberg over an argument about mayo.

By Edward Era Barbacena

An Iowa man was sentenced to life behind bars for the murder of a friend he repeatedly ran over with a pickup truck after a fight about mayonnaise.

Kristofer Erlbacher, now 29, used his truck to ram Caleb Solberg, 30, outside a café in the small town of Pisgah on Dec. 17, 2020, the Des Moines Register reported. Erlbacher initially drove away, then came back and ran over Solberg two more times, according to the Register.

The two had been out drinking at a bar with another person earlier in the night in nearby Moorhead, but things took a turn when Erlbacher spread mayo on Solberg’s food, which riled Solberg and sparked a bar fight, the Woodbine Twiner-Herald reported.

A furious Erlbacher called Solberg’s half-brother, Craig Pryor, on the way to the café and threatened to set Solberg’s house on fire and shoot him, the newspaper said. Pryor later came to Dave’s Old Home in Pisgah, where another confrontation was brewing.

Erlbacher eventually rammed his truck into Pryor’s, then rammed Solberg.

“Erlbacher’s first blow to Solberg did not kill him. He can be heard screaming for his brother, Craig Pryor,” District Judge Greg Steensland wrote in the verdict, according to the Twiner-Herald.

“Rather than just leave, Erlbacher went down the street, turned around, and came back to strike Solberg a second time … To be sure he had completed the job, Erlbacher drove his truck up and over Solberg one last time.”

Erlbacher then drove off, but his truck broke down a short while later. On the phone, he told Pryor that he had killed Solberg, according to the verdict.

Erlbacher was convicted after a bench trial in December last year and sentenced Monday.