Jury convicts Maple Grove man of murdering wife
FILE - A Maple Grove Police Department squad car is at the scene where officers are investigating the "suspicious" death of a 40-year-old woman on March 10, 2020.[Tim Zelenak/KSTP]
A Maple Grove man has been convicted of murdering his wife at their home last year.
The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office announced Friday that 55-year-old John Wiseman was found guilty by a jury of intentional second-degree murder following a four-week trial. The jury deliberated for two days.
The attorney’s office notes that state sentencing guidelines for intentional second-degree murder range from 261 months to 367 months, but prosecutors have asked a judge for an increased sentence because Wiseman brought his son home to discover his dead mother.
According to a criminal complaint, Maple Grove police responded to Wiseman’s home on March 10, 2020, at about 4 p.m. and found his wife on the ground with multiple gunshot wounds. Officers also found $5,000 in cash and a passport hidden inside an old TV antenna box.
Police noted there weren’t any signs of forced entry and many valuables items remained untouched, the complaint states.
Wiseman said he’d gone to pick up his son from school about an hour earlier, and doorbell surveillance video showed that was true. However, an investigation showed a rag in Wiseman’s car, as well as his shirt sleeves, had gunshot residue on them.
The complaint also states witnesses told police Wiseman and his wife had a volatile relationship and that Wiseman said he wanted a divorce but didn’t want to split their considerable assets because he’d "earned this."
Wiseman’s sentencing is set for Nov. 30.