a day ago
Meeker County man admits to murdering wife with children home, says lack of sleep and medication muddied memory
A central Minnesota man pleaded guilty to killing his wife while their children were in the house, but says he doesn't remember the crime due to a lack of medication and sleep.
Bryan Demarais entered a Norgaard plea to second-degree murder and two counts of child endangerment Monday. He said he was "not medication compliant and was extremely sleep deprived" when he killed his wife inside their Dassel, Minnesota, home on Dec. 28, 2023.
In his plea filing, Demarais said he and his wife "verbally argued about marital issues" before he fatally shot her. Their two children were together in a bedroom and heard multiple gunshots before seeing their mother fall to the ground. Demarais closed the bedroom door and the children heard more gunshots, the filing states. Demarais himself called 911 to report the killing, according to a criminal complaint, and willingly surrendered when they arrived.
The children, ages 11 and 8 at the time, were not physically harmed. Police helped them exit the home through a bedroom window.
In an interview after the killing, Demarais told police he saw his wife "as a shadow and not as a person," according to his plea.
Monday's filing indicates attorneys for Demarais will ask for a sentence of 25-and-a-half years.
A Norgaard plea is entered when someone charged with a crime does not remember the circumstances of the offense, but admits that the prosecution's evidence is sufficient to convict them.
