Wisconsin man allegedly strangled his wife and hid her body in rural area
03/05/2025 11:55 am PST
NEW RICHMOND, Wis. (TCN) -- Police recently arrested a 70-year-old man on suspicion of strangling his 68-year-old wife and hiding her body.
On the afternoon of March 2, the New Richmond Police Department received a report that Mary Laakso’s husband, Gordon Laakso, "made statements that led them to believe Mary may have been harmed earlier in the day." Officers responded to a home on Bluff Border Road, where they located Gordon Laakso but couldn’t find his wife.
According to WEAU-TV, Laakso told police his wife "rambled" at him for seven hours, didn’t make any sense, and began hitting him. Laakso allegedly started packing a suitcase and said he was going with officers.
When asked where the victim was, he reportedly said, "Oh, you didn’t find her?" WEAU reports that police questioned why he asked that, and he said, "She’s dead." Laakso claimed he wasn’t able to tell police where the victim was but that she wasn’t at their home.
Inside the residence, investigators reportedly located a pair of gloves with apparent blood on them.
Laakso allegedly told authorities he should have brought his wife to the hospital, but he panicked, and she went to the edge of a cornfield.
According to police, further investigation led officials to a rural area in Polk County, where they discovered Laakso’s wife deceased at around 4 p.m. The medical examiner determined she died of homicidal violence.
Laakso was booked into the St. Croix County Jail on charges of hiding a corpse, first-degree intentional homicide, and strangulation and suffocation.
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