Minnesota woman kills ex-husband, tells cops foul smell is from pigeon droppings

Publish date: 2024-06-12

A Minnesota woman allegedly killed her ex-husband and buried him in her backyard before telling police he had gone away to smoke marijuana in Oklahoma, officials said Monday.

Karina Her, 40, of St. Paul was charged with second-degree intentional murder after she allegedly shot her 50-year-old ex-husband, Kou Yang, twice in the back of the head and built a shed over his buried body in the yard. 

Yang's remains were discovered almost a month later after a neighbor complained of a foul odor that Her blamed on pigeon droppings from a nearby coop.

Her is being held on $2million bail. She is due back in court Tuesday. 

A missing person report had been filed by Yang's relatives on July 22 after he hadn't been in contact with them in a few weeks, according to court documents.    

Karina Her, 40, has been charged with second-degree intentional murder after the body of her ex-husband, Kou Yang, 50, was found under a shed in her backyard Kou Yang, 50, hadn't been seen by relatives since early July, so his family filed a missing person report. A cadaver dog led police to Yang's body when they were searching Her's home. The couple had recently divorced and were set to have a half-share on the house

Karina Her (left) was charged with second-degree intentional murder after she allegedly shot her 50-year-old ex-husband Kou Yang (right) twice in the back of the head 

After Yang's relative contacted the police, Her also made a 911 call and said she hadn't seen her ex-husband since July 1. 

Her told police she lived with her former partner at the 1100 block of Kennard Street while they tried to sell the house, according to abc5.  

But the woman's 17-year-old daughter alerted police when her 12-year old sister texted her that their mother had driven to Taylor Falls, Minnesota, and had dumped a bag with a long object into the woods.  

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The teenager questioned her mother about her step-father's whereabouts. The angry mom allegedly dismissed the query and said she was moving the kids to Milwaukee.

She also insisted that the trip to the woods with the younger daughter was to discard food waste. The older daughter, whom the mom sent away to stay with neighbors, called police when she returned home on July 2 and saw a hole in the backyard garden.   

Police found Yang's work vehicle in a storage facility about 10 miles away in White Bear Lake on July 28 and brought a cadaver dog to Her's residence on July 29.

A shed had been built over the hole in the backyard but the cadaver dog smelled something suspicious on its handle, officials said. 

Police later found blood on a recently painted bedroom wall, a carpet machine in the garage and in the laundry room.

Her insisted that the hole in the yard was from a tree stump that had been removed and that Yang was in Oklahoma visiting family. 

She also blamed the wretched smell on pigeon droppings before being arrested. 

Yang's body was found wrapped in 'some type of material' by the state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension and the County Medical Examiner's Office identified the slain ex-husband, The StarTribune reported.    

If found guilty, Her faces up to 40 years in jail.  

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