Jared Ler’che faces an October sentencing after accepting a conviction for first-degree intentional homicide in Margaret Ler’che’s death.

BALSAM LAKE, Wis. — A western Wisconsin man has pleaded no contest to first-degree intentional homicide in the 2024 killing of his wife, resolving the central criminal charge more than two years after authorities found her dead in the basement of the home she was preparing to leave. Jared Ler’che, 43, entered the plea July 28 in Polk County in the death of 34-year-old Margaret Ler’che.

The plea shifts the case from the question of whether Ler’che would be convicted to how he will be punished. His sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 22, and prosecutors are recommending 25 years in prison. A no-contest plea does not require a defendant to admit the underlying conduct, but it allows the court to enter a conviction and impose a sentence. The resolution came after a case that began with a father’s request for a welfare check and quickly developed into a homicide investigation involving the couple’s home, their two children and statements investigators said Jared Ler’che made while officers were trying to locate his wife.

The events that led to the charge began Jan. 22, 2024, as Margaret Ler’che was preparing to return to Iowa. According to the criminal complaint described in news reports, she and her two children had been staying with her father there for about three months while she and her husband were experiencing marital problems. Her father had traveled to the Osceola area and spent part of that day helping her pack belongings at the home she had shared with Jared Ler’che. She was expected to make the trip back to Iowa that evening, but she did not arrive as planned.

Her father contacted authorities and requested a welfare check. Roughly 10 minutes later, according to the complaint, dispatchers in St. Paul contacted law enforcement in Polk County with a separate but related concern. Jared Ler’che had contacted a crisis line while driving with the couple’s two children and reported having thoughts of suicide, the complaint said. Those two calls put officers in contact with both sides of an unfolding family emergency: Margaret Ler’che could not be located, while her husband was driving elsewhere with the children.

When an officer spoke with Jared Ler’che, he said he did not know where his wife was, according to the complaint. He directed police toward her social-media activity and told an officer to “figure out which one of her boyfriends she might have ran off with.” Investigators said he also claimed that Margaret Ler’che had been having affairs with several men and made allegations that she was connected to child trafficking. The publicly reported complaint does not establish those accusations as fact, and news accounts of the case have not identified evidence substantiating them.

At the Ler’ches’ property, officers began trying to determine whether Margaret Ler’che was inside. One officer walked around the house and looked through a basement window, according to reports describing the complaint. A blanket could be seen on the floor. Officers later entered the residence and found Margaret Ler’che beneath it. Authorities said she had been shot in the back of the head. A cord was around her neck, and a .22-caliber rifle was found nearby. Other reports describing the charging document said investigators saw evidence that she had been moved inside the basement.

The discovery transformed what had begun as a welfare check into a homicide case. Polk County Sheriff Brent Waak publicly identified Margaret Ler’che as the person who had died and Jared Ler’che as the suspect on Jan. 24, 2024, two days after deputies responded to the property in the town of Farmington near Osceola. The sheriff’s office said the death had been ruled a homicide. County jail records from that period list Jared Ler’che as booked on a first-degree intentional homicide charge.

At about the same time officers were investigating the house, law enforcement arranged to meet Jared Ler’che at a convenience store in Osceola. His two children were in the vehicle, according to reports based on the complaint. Investigators said he gave vague answers when asked about his wife’s whereabouts and returned to claims that she was involved with other men. Police also said they noticed blood on his clothing. Those observations became part of the allegations supporting the criminal case filed after Margaret Ler’che was found.

The encounter with Ler’che also became tense, according to the complaint. Investigators said he repeatedly reached toward an area near the floor of his vehicle while speaking with officers. Authorities eventually took him into custody and found a sawed-off shotgun near where he had been reaching, according to the reported charging allegations. Police said they seized clothing and footwear bearing apparent blood evidence. The children were not reported physically injured in the accounts reviewed for this story.

Prosecutors charged Ler’che with first-degree intentional homicide following the investigation. At that stage, the allegations in the complaint were accusations that prosecutors would have been required to prove if the case went to trial. The July 2026 no-contest plea changed that legal posture. Rather than proceed to a trial on the homicide charge, Ler’che accepted a conviction and the possibility of punishment imposed by the court. The plea therefore resolves the issue of criminal liability on the charge while leaving the length and terms of his sentence for the judge to determine.

The case also leaves a stark sequence in the public record surrounding Margaret Ler’che’s final day. Her father said he had helped her pack as she prepared to return to Iowa, where she and the children had already been staying. When she failed to arrive, he sought help. At nearly the same time, Jared Ler’che was driving with the children and communicating with a crisis line. He then told police he did not know where Margaret was and suggested she had left with another man. Officers searching the home, however, found her dead in the basement that night.

The prosecution’s reported sentencing recommendation of 25 years in prison is a request to the court rather than the sentence itself. The judge will determine Ler’che’s punishment at the Oct. 22 hearing. Publicly available reports reviewed for this story did not indicate that a final sentence had been imposed as of Sept. 8. The proceeding will mark the next major step in a case that began with Margaret Ler’che’s missed trip home and her father’s request that police check on her welfare.

Author note: Last updated September 8, 2026.