‘I would kill him again,’ woman tells officers after ex is stabbed, Minnesota cops say

A woman accused of killing her ex-partner was arrested after Minnesota authorities say she returned to the scene of the fatal stabbing.

“I would kill him again,” 47-year-old Connie Jo Frank told officers in Moorhead following the Aug. 4 stabbing, according to KSTP and KVRR.

The Moorhead Police Department said Willard DeGroat Jr., the 47-year-old victim, died at a hospital after being stabbed in the chest at a home.

The stabbing took place following an argument between DeGroat and Frank, who had dated “on and off” for five years, according to a criminal complaint obtained by Bring Me The News. Frank is accused of stabbing DeGroat with a knife she found on the kitchen counter.

The motive of the killing is unclear. Frank told investigators “someone had to end it,” KSTP reported, citing court documents.

Frank was charged with second-degree murder, police said.

She was jailed in the Clay County Correctional Facility on $2 million bail “with no conditions,” according to KVRR.

“He was a son, a brother, an uncle and a friend to a number of folks. Nobody deserves to die like this,” Brian Philippy told Valley News Live of DeGroat, his brother-in-law.

Moorhead is along Minnesota’s border with North Dakota and is about 230 miles northwest from Minneapolis.

This story was originally published August 7, 2024 at 10:26 AM with the headline "‘I would kill him again,’ woman tells officers after ex is stabbed, Minnesota cops say."