A North Dakota attorney allegedly beat his ex-wife to death in Minnesota on Tuesday after she grabbed the youngest of their five children while the other two were in custody, according to the Marshall County Sheriff’s Office. screamed for help, according to the Marshall County Sheriff’s Office.
The 2-year-old was so traumatized that he did not answer police questions after they detained his father and took his mother to hospital.
Anders Odegaard, 31, and Carissa Odegaard, also 31, divorced last year, court records show.
A fight broke out during this week’s custody dispute when he allegedly refused to let her take their children to church, attorneys wrote in the criminal complaint after interviewing the children.
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Their two boys ran outside, greeted a stranger and begged him to call 911 “because their mom was bleeding badly and needed help,” the complaint said.
The first deputy to respond found Anders Odegard in the kitchen wearing only his underwear with blood on his face and hair. Carissa Odegaard was unresponsive, lying in the doorway – with a pool of blood around her head.
The adjutant asked him to explain the situation.
“I don’t feel right,” Erdegarde replied, according to the complaint.
The deputy found that Carissa Odgaard was not breathing. He handcuffed his ex-husband and attempted CPR on the victim. He noticed “severe head trauma” and called an ambulance.
The 9-year-old boy told investigators he saw his father hit his mother on the head with a knife or spatula, then ran outside to find someone to call 911, according to authorities. He also told deputies that he had seen his father beat his mother before.
Three brothers, aged 9, 8 and 2, were inside the home when the attack occurred. The other two siblings were in their mother’s car and were not frightened, according to the complaint.
The 8-year-old told investigators that after knocking his mother to the ground, his father “laid on top of her and strangled her.”
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“There was blood everywhere,” he told deputies, and when he tapped his mother’s foot, she didn’t respond.
Court records show the Odegaards married in May 2011 and officially divorced in September 2011. 16, 2021, on the grounds that their marriage had “irretrievably broken down”. The killings came days before the former couple were due in court for a review hearing.
The parents were granted joint legal custody, but the court gave Carissa Odegaard actual custody. Under Minnesota law, legal guardianship means the right to participate in “major decisions that determine the child’s upbringing.” Physical guardianship means “the day-to-day care and control of a residence”.
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Anders Odegaard was described as the state attorney for Mercer County, North Dakota, in documents finalizing his divorce last year.
Marshall County Attorney Donald Aandal told Fox News Digital he didn’t want to detail the case, citing an ongoing investigation, but said Odegaard’s full employment history was unclear and he had changed careers several times.
Odegaard served the job for three months, from June 2021 to September 2021, before being fired, according to the Mercer County State Attorney’s Office. He served as a public defender in Stark County, North Dakota, for three months before being fired again. After another stint in private practice, he moved back to Minnesota.
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If convicted of second-degree murder, Odegard faces up to 40 years in prison. Prosecutors are also seeking aggravated charges because “the victim was treated with particular cruelty” and because there are multiple child witnesses.
He made his first court appearance on Thursday and was ordered to hold unconditional $5 million bond, $2.5 million bond or $250,000 in cash.
On August 8, Carissa Odegaard was pronounced brain dead at Sanford Hospital in Fargo, North Dakota. 24. She was on life support until her organs could be donated.