MANKATO, Minn. (AP) – Defense attorneys are preparing to argue that a Burnsville man convicted of fatally shooting his ex-wife in front of their three children was insane at the time.

Last week a Blue Earth County jury found 35-year-old Joel Munt guilty of first-degree murder and 16 other counts. The second phase of the trial starts Monday.

Munt was accused of shooting his ex-wife Svetlana Munt in a Mankato park last year after ramming her car into a tree. The couple’s children saw the shooting.

Munt testified last week that he felt as if he somehow left his body and became a spectator during the shooting.

The Free Press of Mankato reports that District Court Judge Kurt Johnson said last week he expected the trial of Munt’s sanity to last one day.

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