Inset: Connie Jo Frank (Clay County Detention Center). Background: The home where Frank allegedly killed her ex-boyfriend in 2024 (KVLY).
A Minnesota woman who told police she would “kill him again” after fatally stabbing her ex-boyfriend in the chest and returning to the crime scene while officers were still investigating will spend more than a decade in prison.
Clay County District Judge Tammy L. Merkins on Tuesday sentenced Connie Jo Frank to 15 years in a state correctional facility for the 2024 slaying of 47-year-old Willard DeGroat.
The judge handed down the sentence after Frank last month pleaded guilty to one count of second-degree murder without intent while committing a felony, according to Clay County court records. As part of the plea agreement, a charge of second-degree murder with intent was dismissed.
Love true crime? Sign up for our newsletter, The Law&Crime Docket, to get the latest real-life crime stories delivered right to your inbox.
The court credited Frank with 724 days of time served and ordered her to pay $8,940 in restitution.
As Law&Crime previously reported, the fatal stabbing happened shortly after midnight on Aug. 4, 2024, at a home in the 1000 block of Third Avenue North in Moorhead. Officers responding to a 911 call found DeGroat suffering from a single stab wound to the upper chest. A kitchen-style knife was recovered from the residence, and DeGroat was pronounced dead shortly after arriving at a local hospital.
Investigators said DeGroat and Frank, who had dated on and off for about five years, argued before the attack. A man who also lived at the home told police he saw the confrontation become physical before going upstairs to get Frank’s adult son to intervene. By the time he returned, DeGroat had been stabbed and Frank had fled.
Frank later walked back to the house while officers were still processing the scene and was taken into custody. During the ride to jail, she made several unsolicited statements, including, “I stabbed his a—” and “I would kill him again,” according to the probable cause affidavit.
She also admitted to detectives that she grabbed a knife from the kitchen counter and stabbed DeGroat “once deeply in the chest,” telling investigators she was “tired” of him and that “someone had to end it.”
After the stabbing, she hid in a neighbor’s backyard before deciding to return and speak with law enforcement. Surveillance footage from a nearby home also captured Frank yelling moments before DeGroat could be heard screaming for someone to call 911 because he was dying.
Before the sentence was imposed Tuesday, members of DeGroat’s family described the lasting pain caused by his death.
According to a report from The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead, one of his sisters said she hoped Frank would hear her brother’s final cries for help every time she closed her eyes. Another sister told the court she has been unable to find forgiveness and remains troubled by Frank’s statement that she would kill DeGroat again, questioning whether someone capable of making such a remark should ever return to the community.
Frank addressed DeGroat’s relatives before sentencing, apologizing for the killing.
“I’m really sorry to the family,” she reportedly said. “I miss him, too, and rest assured I’m paying for that. I’m in my own hell.”
Defense attorney Caroline Field argued Frank deeply regretted what happened and said her client had suffered abuse during the relationship.
Prosecutors objected when the defense began discussing allegations against DeGroat, as Frank’s guilty plea explicitly waived any claim of self-defense.
Under Minnesota law, Frank must serve two-thirds of her 15-year sentence in prison before becoming eligible for supervised release. Additionally, she is permanently prohibited from possessing firearms or ammunition and must provide a DNA sample as required by law.
The post ‘I would kill him again’: Woman fatally stabbed ex-boyfriend, telling police she was ‘tired’ of victim and ‘someone had to do it’ first appeared on Law & Crime.
