Prosecutors are recommending 25 years in prison for Jared Ler’che in the 2024 death of his wife, Margaret.
BALSAM LAKE, Wis. — A Wisconsin homicide case that once appeared headed toward a trial will instead move to sentencing this fall after Jared Ler’che pleaded no contest to first-degree intentional homicide in his wife’s death. Prosecutors are recommending 25 years in prison, with a sentencing hearing scheduled for Oct. 22.
The recommendation is now the central unresolved issue in the prosecution of Ler’che, 43, for the killing of 34-year-old Margaret Ler’che. He entered his no-contest plea July 28, more than two and a half years after officers found his wife dead in the basement of their Osceola-area home. The plea allows a conviction to be entered without Ler’che making the same express admission associated with a guilty plea. It also removes the need for prosecutors to prove the homicide charge to a jury, leaving the court to decide the punishment.
The sentencing stage follows a case that was built from several events unfolding almost simultaneously on Jan. 22, 2024. Margaret Ler’che had been staying with her father in Iowa along with the couple’s two children for about three months while she and her husband were having marital problems, according to the criminal complaint as reported by local news organizations. Her father helped her pack belongings at the Wisconsin residence that day. She was expected to return to Iowa afterward but never arrived.
The prosecution’s chronology began to take shape when Margaret’s father asked authorities to conduct a welfare check. About 10 minutes later, St. Paul dispatchers contacted Polk County law enforcement about Jared Ler’che, who had called a crisis line. According to the complaint, he was driving with the couple’s children and reported having thoughts of suicide. Officers therefore had to locate Ler’che and the children while separately trying to determine why Margaret had missed her expected return.
When police spoke with Jared Ler’che, he told them he did not know where his wife was. He suggested that officers examine her social-media communications and “figure out which one of her boyfriends she might have ran off with,” according to the complaint. Investigators said he accused Margaret of affairs with multiple men and also made claims about her involvement in child trafficking. Those claims were allegations voiced by Ler’che and were not established as facts in the reports reviewed for this story.
The physical search of the property soon overtook that account. An officer walked around the home and looked through a window into the basement, where a blanket could be seen on the floor, according to reports describing the complaint. Police later entered and found Margaret Ler’che underneath it. Authorities said she had been shot in the back of the head and had a cord around her neck. A .22-caliber rifle was found near her. Reports on the complaint also described evidence that her body had been moved within the basement.
Law enforcement announced within days that the death was being treated as a homicide. Polk County Sheriff Brent Waak identified Margaret Ler’che as the victim and Jared Ler’che as the arrested suspect on Jan. 24. A county jail booking report lists Jared Ler’che under the state’s first-degree intentional homicide statute. Those public records marked the beginning of the formal criminal process that ultimately produced the 2026 plea.
Another major part of the case came from the encounter between investigators and Ler’che away from the home. Officers arranged to meet him at a Kwik Trip in Osceola. The two children were in his pickup, according to the complaint. Investigators said Ler’che continued making accusations about his wife while giving little useful information about her location. One officer reported seeing blood on his clothing. At that point, officers at the residence were also developing evidence that Margaret had been killed.
Authorities said Ler’che repeatedly reached toward the floor of the vehicle while officers were speaking with him. The complaint said police eventually took him into custody and found a sawed-off shotgun in the area where he had been reaching. Investigators also seized clothing and footwear with what they described as blood evidence. The details were initially presented as allegations supporting the homicide prosecution, not as findings that had been established at a completed trial.
That distinction remained important throughout the pretrial phase. A criminal complaint can set out the state’s theory and the evidence investigators say they collected, but a defendant is presumed innocent while the charge remains unresolved. Ler’che’s July plea changed that status. By pleading no contest, he chose not to force prosecutors to present the case at trial and accepted the entry of a conviction and the punishment that follows. The upcoming hearing will determine the practical consequences of that choice.
The prosecution’s 25-year recommendation is significant but should not be confused with a sentence already imposed. Sentencing recommendations are arguments presented for the court’s consideration. The judge remains responsible for entering the final sentence under Wisconsin law and the terms of the case. The reports reviewed for this article did not identify a final sentence as of Sept. 8, and the scheduled Oct. 22 proceeding remains the next major court date.
For Margaret Ler’che’s family, the procedural turn comes long after the night her father realized something had gone wrong. He had been with her earlier that day as she packed to leave the Wisconsin home and expected her back in Iowa. His welfare call, rather than a routine arrival, was followed by a crisis-line alert involving her husband, an urgent police search and the discovery in the basement. The case that followed centered on why the woman preparing to leave never made the trip.
For investigators, the early hours were marked by contrasts between what they were being told and what they were finding. Jared Ler’che suggested his wife had gone away with another man, according to the complaint. Officers at the property found her dead. He made additional accusations about her private life, while authorities documented evidence they said connected the investigation to him. The plea means those competing accounts will no longer be presented to a jury in a trial.
The focus now is narrower and more concrete. Jared Ler’che stands to be sentenced for first-degree intentional homicide following his accepted no-contest plea. Prosecutors have stated the punishment they want: 25 years in prison. The court has not yet announced what it will impose. On Oct. 22, the long-running case is scheduled to move from the facts that led to a conviction to the sentence that will determine how the criminal proceeding concludes.
Author note: Last updated September 8, 2026.