Lauri Deatherage had been married for just four days before she was shot to death, allegedly by her ex-husband, in her Robbinsdale home on Friday. Deatherage was married to a fellow Air Force veteran with who she had reunited after decades apart.
Police were called to the Deatherages' home in the 3400 block of Grimes Avenue N. Friday morning. They were doing a welfare check at 9:15 a.m. when they found her body.
Shortly after, the officers tracked down her ex-husband to his Brooklyn Center home, where a 10-hour standoff began. Negotiators from several different agencies reached him via phone before the standoff ended at 9 p.m.
Billy Deatherage, her widower, said on Sunday that he met his wife 30 years ago while they were stationed at the Air Force base in Grand Forks, the StarTribune reported.
After reconnecting four years ago, Billy, 53, proposed in the spring, and the Deathrage’s were married on June 13, the same day as her 48th birthday.
Billy has said that he’s a “train wreck” following the death of his wife.
"Our time was cut short by an atrocious act," he said. "We had been married less than one week before she was taken away from me."
Deatherage was identified on Sunday by Authorities and her ex-husband, 64, remains in the Hennepin County jail pending murder charges.
The newlyweds planned to move to Arkansas to be with her new husband after closing on a home in the southern state.