Joshua Fury Pleads Guilty To Killing Wife Maria Pew; Expected To Get 38 Years In Prison

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- A Maple Grove man has pleaded guilty to killing his 28-year-old wife Maria Pew a few months ago, and is expected to be sentenced to 38 years in prison.

On Tuesday, Joshua David Fury pleaded guilty to second-degree murder after killing his wife on April 20. Hennepin County Attorney Leah Erickson and Fury's attorney agreed to a sentence of 456 months for the brutal murder of Maria.

According to a criminal complaint, the search for Maria had started on April 30 when she was reported missing. Officers had obtained a search warrant at the couple's home and brought dogs that were trained to detect human remains. The animal had indicated that a body was present in a crawl space in the lower level of the house. After hours of work, Maria's body was found.

Charging documents said her cause of death was believed to be asphyxiation from a plastic bag taped over her head and nose. Her husband allegedly blamed her disappearance on an old boyfriend, but later told police "they had a fight Thursday morning in which he strangled her and then put the plastic over her face."

READ MORE: Charges: Husband Joshua Fury Strangled Maria Fury And Buried Her Body In Home's Crawl Space

Maria's family released this statement Tuesday:

There are no winners in the horrible death of our dear angel, Maria. A sentence of 4 million months does not bring Maria back to us. So, we choose to be who Maria wants us to be... kind, loving and inspired to use our pain to end domestic violence.

Maria is one of 15 intimate partner murders in Minnesota already this year -- 15. That just has to end. Those murders left thousands of families, parents, cousins, aunts, uncles, friends, neighbors, first responders and caring communities of people violated and traumatized. This needs to stop. 

Let's use our Voice with Maria's to make sure a home is a place of safety and love, not secreted in violence. We need your help to end this national pandemic. Please follow and like us on Facebook Maria's Voice. Our actions must change this acceptability of violence toward intimate partners.

Maria loves you. The Pew Weimelt families thanks you for letting us know that you love her too. Despite our intense grief, we believe what Maria believed: Love always triumphs.

Fury's sentence hearing is scheduled for Friday, July 31.