Robert McCloud Accused Of Killing Ex-Wife Before 10-Hour Standoff With Police

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Authorities allege a Brooklyn Center man shot his ex-wife in the head and intended to kill himself during a 10-hour standoff with police before he was taken into custody Friday.

Robert Dewayne McCloud is charged with second-degree murder, according to Hennepin County court documents filed Tuesday.

A criminal complaint states the Robbinsdale Police Department responded to a home 3400 block of Grimes Avenue North around 9:15 a.m. Friday. The reporting party told police McCloud had recently purchased a gun and admitted to going to his ex-wife's house.

Police found the woman -- later identified as 48-year-old Lauri Anne Deatherage -- dead inside that home. An autopsy determined she died from a gunshot wound to the head.

Officers went to McCloud's home, and he allegedly threatened to shoot himself when they arrived.

He was taken into custody around 9 p.m.

During a search of his home, police found a pistol, ammunition, a key for Deatherage's home and "clothing with blood-like substance," the complaint states.

Officers also obtained a flash drive, one of several McCloud reportedly sent to family members. According to the complaint, on that drive was a video of McCloud saying he planned to kill himself, and that he "knew it was wrong to involve" Deatherage, but she "had just remarried and he wasn't going to let 'that hillbilly' get all his stuff and his wife."

If convicted, McCloud faces up to 40 years in prison.

Minnesota has a domestic abuse hotline available 24 hours a day. The number is 866-223-1111.