New Richmond man arrested, charged on suspicion of murdering wife

Charges have been filed against a New Richmond man suspected of murdering his wife and moving her body, police say.

St. Croix County court records show 70-year-old Gordon Laakso is charged with several felony counts in connection with the death of his wife, 68-year-old Mary Laakso.

According to the New Richmond Police Department, officers performed a welfare check for Mary Laakso while following up on a report of a domestic disturbance on Sunday afternoon. Police say the 911 caller had reason to believe Mary Laakso was in trouble based on statements Gordon Laakso had made earlier in the day.

Officers turned up at the Laakso home on the 1300 block of Bluff Border Road around 1:45 p.m. and found Gordon Laakso but not his wife. Attempts to reach her phone weren’t successful, either. Investigators later found her body in a rural area of Polk County, Wisconsin.

On Monday, an autopsy by the Ramsey County Medical Examiner’s Office determined Mary’s manner of death to be a homicide.

Gordon Laakso remains in custody at the St. Croix County Jail. During an initial court appearance on Monday, his bail was set at $1 million. He faces charges of first-degree intentional homicide, domestic strangulation and suffocation, and hiding a corpse.

A preliminary hearing is set for March 17.