Wife Of National Guard Sgt. Charged With His Murder

ST. PAUL, Minn. (WCCO) -- National Guard Staff Sgt. Brandon Horst will be laid to rest on Tuesday at Fort Snelling National Cemetery, but there will be no grieving widow at the funeral.

Sgt. Horst's wife will sit in jail, now charged with plotting his murder.

In the hours after finding her husband shot to death last week, police found Heather Horst's behavior strange.

An officer noted, "she never cried once and sounded as if she was trying to force emotion," as she told relatives about the murder.

She told investigators, she was away at a Walgreen's with a friend when her husband was killed.

But that friend is now providing damaging information, not only about Heather Horst, but also her own fiancee -- the other suspect in the case, Aaron Allen.

She said Heather Horst told them both last week that she and her husband had been "arguing a lot over the past few days." She quoted Heather Horst as saying, "I want him dead."

Later that night, the criminal complaint states "she left the gun for Allen on the dining room table," and he used it on Brandon Horst as he slept.

The gun was later found three miles away, at a disc golf course in South St. Paul.

Investigators say Heather Horst stood to collect $480,000 from two life insurance policies.

Two neighbors of Allen say they find it hard to believe he could be involved in something like this.

"Oh yeah, I live right here," said Henry Barnes. "My kids walk past him, my son, my daughter, my neighbors."

"To me, he would not kill a fly," said Donald Rousseau. "I mean honestly, I don't think he could hurt anybody."