OTTER TAIL COUNTY, MINNESOTA: Paul Edward Mart, a Minnesota man has been charged with the murder of his wife. The 79-year-old said he found his wife bloodied body and her lying naked when he woke up before he made a call to his daughter and admitted to it. He also threatened "suicide by cop."
The man who bashed his wife's head into the granite floor was charged with second-degree murder. He was held on $750,000 bond after he was booked into the Otter Tail County Jail. His 77-year-old wife, Jean Harriette Mart, suffered from a gunshot wound to the head and blunt force wounds to the head, according to the medical examiner, reported Law and Crime.
Who is Paul Edward Mart?
Mart was arrested after an hours-long standoff that led to an evacuation by the authorities and according to a news release from the Otter Tail County Sheriff’s Office in Minnesota, multiple police agencies responded to the situation including a SWAT team.
The Sheriff’s Office received a call from someone who informed them about a woman who is dead at a home in Big Pine Lake. The alleged killer made several comments that "he remembered getting into a fight," adding "he slammed her head into the granite flooring a few times," "he cannot forgive himself," and "probably killed her," as per the criminal complaint.
Mart threatened to shoot at police if they arrived
Mart who sounded drunk had three guns and allegedly threatened to aim the weapons at police if they arrived. He also said, "they will have to kill him." The suspect surrendered after authorities brought in a negotiator. Investigators found a gun in a trash can.
Chris Cadem, a lawyer for Mart said that the death was an accident and noted that there is no evidence at present to tie his client to the weapon from which his wife suffered the gunshot wound. "Based again on the information we’ve uncovered in the last 48 hours, we are confident that gunshot residue is going to come back on the hands of the decedent," Cadem said.
"We are very confident that my client will be able to demonstrate this was, in fact, an accident, that this did not happen by any action or deliberate act by my client, and that he will be exonerated of this charge," he added.
Michelle Eldien, Otter Tail County Attorney filed one count of murder in the second degree against Mart. "The charge is an intentional murder based on the evidence that was collected and known when the complaint was filed," said Eldien.
