On This Date in Minnesota History: October 16

October 16, 1999 – “On October 13, Jean Weaver told friends that she had told her husband she wanted a divorce. Three days later her body was found in their burning home [in White Bear Lake, Minn.]. At first Gordon Weaver [claimed] the fire began while he was at work or at his son's soccer game. But the autopsy showed that Jean suffered traumatic head injuries and multiple skull fractures and an open wound on her head. The fire was started in two separate places, on Jean Weaver's body and on shelving in the room where she was found and traces of the flammable liquid used to start the fire were found on Gordon Weaver's shoes and socks. He [was] charged with second-degree murder and first-degree arson. Gordon Weaver fled Minnesota and was a fugitive hunted by the FBI. In May 2004, Weaver was captured in Florence, Oregon, where he had been living under the name of David Carson for several years.”¹

“Gordon Weaver was convicted of second-degree unintentional murder and sentenced to 25 years in prison. But that verdict was overturned on appeal [in 2007], largely due to questions about lab testing used by prosecutors in their case.”²

“Weaver was [again] found guilty on February 18, 2010, of unintentional Second-Degree Murder and sentenced April 16, 2010, to 18 years and nine months in prison. A Ramsey County judge heard the case without a jury at Weaver’s request. [In July 2011] the Minnesota Supreme Court denied a defense petition seeking review of Weaver’s conviction for the murder of his wife, Jean.”<sup>3

1</sup>http://www.mcbw.org/files/u1/femicide1999.pdf

²http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23376529/ns/dateline_nbc-crime_reports/t/stranger/

³http://minnlawyer.com/minnlawyerblog/2011/07/21/minnesota-supreme-court-denies-review-of-murder-conviction/

Gordon Weaver

http://blogs.citypages.com/blotter/2010/02/gordon_weaver_n.php