A Polk County, Wisconsin man will spend at least 33 years in prison before he can even be considered for parole, after pleading no contest to killing his wife inside the basement of their Osceola home. Jared Danger Ler’che was sentenced Wednesday to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 33 years, with 1,002 days credited for time already served.
The sentence, handed down in Polk County Circuit Court, closes out a case that began in January 2024, when Margaret Ler’che was found dead in the basement of the couple’s home, according to CBS News. Ler’che pleaded no contest to first-degree intentional homicide in July, and was formally sentenced on October 21, 2026, for the killing of his wife, as reported by DrydenWire.
A Brutal Scene in the Basement
According to KSTP, law enforcement discovered Margaret’s body while searching the home, and the complaint indicates she had been beaten and dragged into a different room before being shot. She had a black cord wrapped tightly around her neck and several injuries to her face and head, including a portion of her skull that was caved in, per the complaint. Deputies said she also had a gunshot wound on the back of her head, and a shotgun along with unfired ammunition was found near her body.
Per her father, Margaret had planned to move in with him on the day she was found, and the station’s report notes that she and Jared were having marital problems at the time. Those details, laid out in the criminal complaint, paint a picture of a woman trying to leave a troubled marriage in the days before she was killed.
A Crisis Call, a Standoff, and an Arrest
The case unraveled after a Minnesota crisis line contacted the St. Paul Police Department about Jared Ler’che in January 2024. He told the crisis line he was driving around with his two children and having thoughts of suicide, and his phone later pinged to Cannon Falls, Minnesota. Per the complaint, he refused to provide his location or discuss Margaret, apart from accusing her of having an affair, and he also refused to meet law enforcement at the residence.
He eventually agreed to meet a deputy with the two children at a Kwik Trip near the residence, where he was arrested as he reached for a shotgun on the floor, the same account states. The children were not harmed in the encounter.
A Wisconsin Pattern of Lethal Violence
The case adds to a grim statistical backdrop across the state. End Domestic Abuse Wisconsin documented 101 fatalities from domestic and family violence in 2025, including 60 domestic-violence homicide victims, and found that firearms were used to kill 72% of those victims. The same report found that 19 of those victims, about 32%, were 50 or older. A year earlier, the organization’s 2024 homicide report counted 99 deaths tied to domestic violence statewide, including 71 domestic-violence homicide victims.
Other Wisconsin cases this year reflect similarly severe sentencing outcomes for domestic violence. In a separate case, a 41-year-old Sparta man was sentenced to 36 years in prison plus 22 years of extended supervision for two domestic-violence-related attacks on two different victims, according to WeAreGreenBay. That defendant, Andrew Nauman, was first arrested in October 2024 after a woman was found with life-threatening injuries and taken to a trauma hospital, and prosecutors argued his history of violence and the extreme nature of the attacks warranted a longer sentence than the state’s corrections department had recommended.
Where Victims Can Turn for Help
The National Domestic Violence Hotline reports that more than 12 million people in the United States are affected by domestic violence each year. Advocates say the organizations listed below can connect victims with safe shelter, legal help, advocacy and support groups: Women’s Advocates at 651-227-8284, Violence Free Minnesota at 651-646-6177 or 800-289-6177, Standpoint at 612-343-9842, Mending the Sacred Hoop at 888-305-1650, the Minnesota Coalition Against Sexual Assault at 612-209-9993, Minnesota Day One at 866-223-1111, and the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 800-799-7233.
