Garrison Woman Sentenced For Killing Husband With Van

WALKER, Minn. (WCCO/AP) - A district court judge has sentenced a 62-year-old woman on Monday for using her van to strike and kill her estranged husband at his rural northern Minnesota home.

Helene Mitchell-Abraham, of Garrison, was found guilty of second-degree intentional murder and interference with a dead body in late May of this year.

District Court Judge John Smith sentenced Mitchell-Abraham on Monday to serve a total of 391 months or 32.5 years in prison. This is the maximum sentence allowed by Minnesota law.

The original complaint alleged that Mitchell-Abraham and her 64-year-old husband, Wendell Abraham, argued at his Remer-area home in September 2010.

According to the complaint, Mitchell-Abraham saw her husband walk behind her van, so she put the van into reverse and floored it, striking and killing him.

Mitchell-Abraham then allegedly used a rope to drag his body into the woods and fled.

In May, the jury heard 2½ days of testimony and deliberated for approximately four hours before returning the verdict.

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