Tree-Cutting Accident Killed Owatonna Businessman

NEW LONDON (AP) - Authorities have identified an Owatonna businessman who died in a tree-cutting accident near New London in west-central Minnesota.

Kandiyohi County Sheriff Daniel Hartog says 53 year-old Ted Raymond Paffrath was cutting down a large tree around on his family's land near Green Lake on Sunday when it fell on him.

He was an outdoors enthusiast and the owner of Paffrath Jewelers in Owatonna, which his grandfather started.

One of his promotions was once mentioned on David Letterman's late-night TV show. His annual "Diamonds and Guns Sale" promised men a shotgun if they purchased a diamond ring for their wife or bride-to-be. Depending on the value of the ring, the men would get a gift card from Cabela's they could use to purchase a gun.