A husband has been arrested and charged with murder in Minnesota after his wife was found dead along a road in late June, police say.
Tony McClelland, 47, was taken into custody last night following the discovery of Angela McClelland’s body near the intersection of Legend Lane and Killian Road in Fort Ripley Township on June 25, according to the Crow Wing County Sheriff’s Office.
"The death occurred about two weeks ago and investigators have been working on the case putting the pieces together to the fatal events leading up to the death of the victim, 49-year-old Angela Marie McClelland of Fort Ripley," it said in a statement. "Both the husband and victim lived together in their Fort Ripley home."
Tony McClelland is now facing charges of second-degree murder and criminal vehicular homicide.
Crow Wing County Sheriff Eric Klang told the Brainerd Dispatch newspaper in late June that investigators believed Angela McClelland died after being struck by a vehicle.
"We’re still following up on all sorts of different leads," Klang said at the time. "So if we can find anything, anybody who might have seen anything, that would be great."
The motive for the alleged homicide is not immediately clear.
An obituary for Angela McClelland published in the newspaper said she married Tony on Oct. 20, 2011 at The Little White Chapel is Las Vegas, and "From that day on, just as they were in courtship, in marriage they were inseparable."
"Tony and Angie loved to travel, spend time out West, and to take leisurely cruises -- either by road or by water. Together they spent time relaxing around campfires in the summer, hunted the Northland in the fall, enjoyed ice fishing in the winters, and maintained a beautiful home as the flowers grew in the early Spring," the obituary read.
"Angie especially loved to spend quality time with Tony taking trips around [a] lake on their pontoon in the evenings," it added, noting that "The fourth of July was their favorite holiday to gather with friends and family, and on this fourth, not one firework will shine as bright in her absence."
The Crow Wing County Sheriff’s Office released images of Tony McClelland in handcuffs and being transported to the Crow Wing County Jail.
Angela McClelland also was described in her obituary as a mother who was "passionate, generous, stubborn, a remarkably hard worker, and a true perfectionist."
