Minnesota Man Strangles Wife, Wraps Her Head With Plastic Bag Before Burying Body Inside Home

A man accused of strangling his wife during an altercation and later covering her face and nose with a plastic bag before burying her body in a crawl space of their home was charged Tuesday with second-degree murder.

The suspect, identified as 28-year-old Joshua Fury, a Maple Grove, Minnesota, resident on Thursday (April 30) reported that his wife was missing. According to the missing complaint filed, Joshua found his wife, 28-year-old Maria Fury, missing when he returned home from work Thursday. He said her phone was still in the house and thinking that she had gone for a walk, he went looking for her along her usual walking route but could not find her.

Police arrived at the scene and initiated a search for Maria. The authorities even brought in a helicopter to look for Maria but failed to locate her.

On the next day, the police officials spoke to Maria’s family and friends regarding her whereabouts. During the investigation, the officers learned that the couple was having problems in their marital life and also Maria intended to leave Joshua.

A search warrant was issued to their house on the 11000 block of Red Fox Drive in Maple Grove, Minnesota. Police, accompanied by dogs that were trained to detect bodies, conducted a thorough search at the house.

On early Saturday morning, the dogs found Maria’s body buried in a crawl space in the home. The police spent hours to exhume her body.

An autopsy conducted by the Hennepin County medical examiner’s office revealed that Maria apparently died from asphyxiation after a plastic bag was taped over her head and nose. Her death was ruled as a homicide.

Fury who initially denied committing the crime tried to blame it on his wife’s ex-boyfriend, but later when he was taken to custody confessed to killing her.

He told the police that they argued over Maria leaving him during which he strangled her until she was "death breathing." He then put a plastic bag over her head and once she stopped breathing wrapped her hands with duct tape before digging a hole in the crawl space and burying her. He then cleaned up the place and covered the area with chalked plastic before cleaning himself and leaving for work.

According to the charging documents, Joshua reportedly confessed that he suffers from depression and has also attempted suicide after committing the crime.

Joshua who did not have any prior criminal record in Minnesota was charged with one count of second-degree murder.

Hennepin County attorney’s office in a statement issued on Tuesday, considering the “extremely violent nature of the offense,” indicated that it intended to request a bail amount of $2 million.