A Missouri father of two has been accused of killing his wife, writing his name in blood on her body and writing to his sister how “easy” and “satisfying” it was, police said.
John Wonder, 31, was charged with first-degree murder after Kansas City police said he allegedly stabbed and strangled his wife, 29-year-old Ashli Ehrhardt, in their home on Sept. 22, according to a report A probable cause statement obtained by HuffPost shows . The couple was in the middle of a divorce and Ehrhardt was due to move out of their home within a few days.
“Hey kid. Sorry about the mess,” Wonder allegedly texted his sister shortly after he killed his wife, according to charging documents. “It’s much easier and much more satisfying than you can imagine. Up soon.”
Police said they conducted a welfare check at the couple’s home after a supervisor at the company they worked for noticed neither had come inside.
The supervisor told police that the two were getting divorced but were still living together, the probable cause statement said.
According to police, the couple’s employer then called Ehrhardt’s mother and told her and her husband to go to the house to check on the couple. There they met the responding officers and shortly afterwards also Wonder’s mother.
At the scene, Ehrhardt’s mother told officers that Wonder had dropped off her two children, ages 2 and 4, at her home around 8:20 a.m. but left them on the porch instead of taking them into the house as usual Document.
Wonder’s mother told officers that the couple had been married since October 2019, but the two divorced after seeing a marriage counselor last year, police said. She helped pay for a divorce lawyer and added that Ehrhardt planned to move out on Oct. 1, according to authorities.
According to the document, Ehrhardt’s parents entered the home through the back door and searched the apartment while police were outside. Her father discovered her dead in the downstairs laundry room, and officers reported that she was naked from the waist down and had what appeared to be a belt wrapped around her neck.
Police said she had multiple bleeding stab wounds in her left side, had the name “Wonder” written in blood on her leg and was carrying a large butcher knife and meat cleaver close to her body.
Wonder’s sister then arrived at the scene and showed police screenshots of a text message conversation with her brother that began around 10:40 a.m. in which he reportedly sent her a message telling her how easy and satisfying it was to kill his wife, police said.
Officers called one of Wonder’s friends, who provided another disturbing message to the document, saying Wonder was heading north to Fargo.
“I still haven’t cried. Still don’t feel anything. But don’t be afraid anymore. That’s a plus,” Wonder reportedly texted his friend at 7:39 a.m. that day.
The friend told police he was at work when the messages were sent and didn’t see them until later.
“I’m in the car. I have no doubt I’m going to get caught today. I keep thinking about how she never screamed. I just took it like a champ. What a girl,” Wonder reportedly wrote at 8: 50 p.m.: “To honor her. I will go out not by a gunshot (suicide by a police officer), but by a hopefully similar fate to Ashli.”
According to a news release from the Cherry County District Attorney’s Office, Nebraska State Police located Wonder driving westbound and arrested him on suspicion of first-degree murder and armed criminal action.
Court records show Wonder does not yet have an attorney and is being held on $1 million bail.
In a tribute post on Facebook, Ehrhardt’s mother said her “heart is completely shattered” after her daughter’s death.
“She is the beautiful young woman who gave us our beloved grandchildren, who are safe and in our care…For many reasons, I cannot reveal any further details at this time,” she wrote.
Accordingly Data According to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, an average of nearly 20 people per minute in the United States are physically abused by an intimate partner, with one in seven women being harmed by an intimate partner.
Do you need help? In the US, call 1-800-799-SAFE (7233). National Domestic Violence Hotline.
