‘I would kill him again’: Woman charged with fatally stabbing ex-boyfriend in Moorhead

A woman is in custody, accused of killing a 47-year-old man in Moorhead this past Sunday.

Connie Jo Frank, 47, faces one count of second-degree murder. She made her first court appearance Tuesday morning and will have an omnibus hearing on Aug. 29.

Officers responded to the scene of a reported stabbing at the 1000 block of Third Avenue North.

There, they found 47-year-old Willard DeGroat Jr. with a stab wound to his chest. DeGroat was transported to a hospital, where he died of his injuries.

According to a criminal complaint, a witness told police that Frank was DeGroat’s ex-girlfriend and that he heard them arguing earlier that night. The witness said he saw a physical altercation and went to get Frank’s adult son to help intervene.

However, when the two men returned, they saw DeGroat with a stab wound to his chest and Frank left.

Court documents state that Frank returned to the scene while police were investigating the homicide and was arrested.

While en route to the jail, Frank reportedly made several unprompted comments, including, “I stabbed his ass” and “I would kill him again.”

Court documents state that Frank told investigators she had dated DeGrout for around five years and had recently been staying at her son’s house. She said DeGrout had come to the house and started knocking on windows.

Frank told investigators that she was tired of DeGrout and that “someone had to end it.”

She said she grabbed a knife from the kitchen and stabbed DeGrout once deeply in the chest, court documents state. She then said she ran away and hid in her neighbor’s backyard before deciding to come speak with investigators.

A knife was found near the scene and taken as evidence. Police also took surveillance video evidence from the scene, which captured Frank yelling at DeGrout and DeGrout yelling for someone to call 911 because he was dying.

---