Blaine man sentenced to 40 years for murdering wife after she served divorce papers
Matthew Lynn Jansen[Anoka County Sheriff's Office]
A Blaine man has been sentenced to 40 years in prison for murdering his wife in 2019.
According to a release from the Anoka County Attorney’s Office, Matthew Lynn Jansen was sentenced to 40 years in prison after reaching a plea agreement that saw him plead guilty to second-degree intentional murder.
According to the criminal complaint, Blaine police were dispatched to a residence on 95th Avenue NE following a 911 call from a male who stated he had used a gun to kill his wife. The man allegedly said the gun was unloaded and in the foyer of the home.
After arriving at the home, officers communicated with the man – identified as the 46-year-old Jansen – and directed him to exit the house without the gun. He then complied without incident, the complaint states.
Police then entered the home and found the body of a female lying on the floor of an upstairs bedroom. The woman – identified as 46-year-old Mary Jo Jansen – was determined to be deceased. Police also located an unloaded Smith and Wesson .44 handgun on the steps of the home and found two spent .44 cartridges in the bedroom where Mary Jo was discovered, the complaint said.
Man police say admitted to fatally shooting wife is charged with murder
Matthew Jansen allegedly told officers "I can’t believe I did it," and "I guess I don’t have to worry about a divorce now." The complaint alleges detectives learned from family members that Mary Jo had served Matthew divorce paperwork around Thanksgiving.
The complaint states the two had remained in the home while the divorce was pending, but that Mary Jo had been planning to move out permanently on Saturday.
“It is particularly cruel for children to lose their mother, and a family to lose their loved one, at the hands of someone who is supposed to emotionally support a family, not violently tear it apart,” said Anoka County Attorney Tony Palumbo. “The emotional impact was made worse here because the victim had attended her mother’s funeral just that morning.”