During a 911 call from the Washington County home of Charlene Wunderlich on the evening of Sept. 16, dispatchers reported hearing a woman saying, “Hurry, I’m gonna die!”

Deputies and other first responders who rushed to the scene in Hugo were unable to save Wunderlich, 68, who prosecutors now say was beaten to death by her 45-year-old son, Trevor Wunderlich. 

It is a charge he denies, but Charlene Wunderlich’s murder is something she predicted years earlier – a revelation found within hundreds of pages of police reports and court records reviewed by 5 INVESTIGATES. 

Well known to authorities, Trevor Wunderlich has been repeatedly arrested and charged with crimes such as domestic assault and violation of no contact orders, but he has rarely faced significant jail time until now. 

It is a familiar scenario to advocates working to bring more attention to domestic violence occurring between family members.

‘He wishes I would die’

In November 2020, Charlene Wunderlich sought an order for protection from her son, citing “escalating” behavior over several years. 

“He throws things at me, calls (me) terrible names saying he wishes I would die,” Wunderlich wrote in her petition. 

Less than six months later, deputies responded again to the family’s home on Ingersoll Avenue North where a witness said Trevor Wunderlich “gave his mother a black eye and was out of control.”

During the same incident, prosecutors noted “Ms. Wunderlich stated that she didn’t care if she lived or died anymore” and that “she was tired of living in fear of Mr. Wunderlich.”

Prosecutors filed additional charges against Trevor Wunderlich when he later called his mother from jail, pressuring her to drop the Domestic Abuse No Contact Order (DANCO) that had been filed against him. 

But Trevor Wunderlich was out of custody again, with some charges still pending, when investigators say he killed his mother in September. 

Call from jail

Trevor Wunderlich called 5 INVESTIGATES from the Washington County Jail in October after receiving a letter requesting comment about his history of criminal charges.

Wunderlich declined to discuss what happened in the moments leading up to his mother’s death, but he denied killing her and even blamed Washington County authorities.

“They’re probably making me out to look like this horrible person because that’s the way Washington County wants to do it,” Wunderlich said. “They want to try and throw away the key and convict me of something that I didn’t even do.”

During a sometimes rambling discussion, Wunderlich repeatedly referenced his intelligence, proclaimed his “love for people,” and rejected reports that his mother feared for her life.

“They are lying, they are liars,” Wunderlich said. “There’s nobody afraid of me. I’d like to know who’s saying they’re afraid of me.”

Court records show at least two previous girlfriends and a neighbor previously sought protection from Wunderlich.

Before her death, Trevor Wunderlich’s mother told deputies she was concerned that her son had “mental health issues” and a former fiancée told the court she wanted to see Wunderlich receive “intensive inpatient drug treatment.”

Raising awareness

The Washington County Attorney and Sheriff declined requests to comment on the Wunderlich case, citing an active criminal investigation.

5 INVESTIGATES also contacted several family members, friends, and former associates of Wunderlich who all declined to go on the record.

Although advocates for domestic violence awareness are also unable to specifically discuss Wunderlich’s case, they say similar matters are more common than many people might think. 

“What’s happening to one family is probably happening two doors down to another family,” said Guadalupe Lopez, Executive Director of Violence Free Minnesota. 

She and others point to data from the National Center on Elder Abuse showing at least one in 10 older adults have experienced some form of abuse in the last year. 

Amanda Vickstrom with the Minnesota Elder Justice Center adds that escaping domestic violence involving a family member can be even more difficult than leaving an intimate partner who becomes abusive. 

“In the elder justice world, we say that we’re 20 years behind the domestic violence movement,” Vickstrom said. “What victims tell us is that they want the abuse to stop… but they don’t want to see their child or their grandchild go to jail. So it becomes very complicated.”

Trevor Wunderlich insists he was never a threat despite a decade of red flags documented by police and prosecutors.

He remains in the Washington County Jail on a second-degree murder charge with his next hearing scheduled for December. 

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Domestic violence help

Help is available 24/7 through the Day One hotline by calling 866-223-1111 or by texting 612-399-9995

Additional resources available from the Minnesota Elder Justice Center HERE.

You can find resources from the National Alliance of Mental Illness HERE.