A northern Minnesota man beat his wife and left her for dead on a snowy road, authorities said Tuesday. She later died.

Jeremiah Kingbird, 38, of Ponemah, was indicted in federal court in Bemidji on first- and second-degree murder charges in connection with the death of Gennie M. Kingbird, 41, who died at the Red Lake IHS Hospital on Jan 6.

Kingbird appeared in court Monday and remains under federal custody in the Beltrami County jail ahead of a hearing Thursday in Duluth.

"Gennie was a very happy person [who] loved spending time with her family, her job and joking around to make people laugh," read the obituary for the mother of five. "She loved to watch her daughter play basketball and attended every game she could."

Messages were left with Jeremiah Kingbird's attorney seeking a response to the allegations.

According to court documents:

A woman called law enforcement officers and told them Jeremiah Kingbird stopped by her house and said he found his wife on Old Ponemah Road and that she had been there all night.

Officers located a badly injured Gennie Kingbird facedown in the snow and struggling to breathe. Emergency personnel took her to the hospital, where she died.

Authorities searched Jeremiah Kingbird's vehicle and found blood on the front passenger window. He admitted to attacking his wife and leaving her outside after a night of drinking.

The U.S. Attorney's Office did not reveal a motive behind Gennie Kingbird's murder.