A couple wanted in a near-death beating and robbery in Louisiana are being sought in the murder of a 58-year-old Wright County woman who, police said Monday, was a random victim in a home burglary.

Police found the stolen Jeep Cherokee of Ruth Ouverson on Sunday in Fargo, N.D., and lifted a fingerprint that helped them identify the former low-level heavyweight boxer who was charged Monday in Ouverson's death.

Jeremy D. Brooks, 27, who has lived in Texas and Greenwood, La., was charged in Wright County with second-degree murder. Ouverson's body was found Aug. 4 in a bedroom closet of her home.

Sheriff Gary Miller said there is no indication that she knew her attacker.

State and federal agents are hunting for Brooks, also known as Travis A. Guntenaar, and a female accomplice, Coty D. Martinez, 28, of Cut Off, La. The Sheriff's Office describes Martinez as a "person of interest" in Ouverson's death.

Brooks stands 6-foot-5 and weighs 225 pounds. He has hazel-blue eyes and brown hair. Martinez is 5-foot-3, 100 pounds with brown hair and brown eyes.

Armed and dangerous

Authorities consider them armed and dangerous, and for good reason. A few days before Ouverson's body was found in her Marysville Township home, authorities suspect Brooks and Martinez burglarized a home nearby and made off with a large number of guns and knives.

The fugitives also have arrest warrants for attempted first-degree murder and armed robbery stemming from an incident June 2 in Slidell, La. Martinez lured a man to a hotel room with the promise of sex, then Brooks entered the room and "almost killed him" by beating the man with a malt liquor bottle and a tire iron, said Slidell police spokesman Kevin Foltz.

Sheriff Miller wouldn't say how Ouverson died, other than she wasn't shot and a murder weapon wasn't found and isn't being sought. "It was a pretty horrendous crime," he said. "I can't say it was a burglary gone bad or if they [the burglars] were surprised."

Brooks and a female, believed to be Martinez, were last seen on store surveillance video the evening of Aug. 3 at a Wal-Mart store in Fargo. Ouverson's missing Jeep was recovered in the store parking lot Sunday.

In the vehicle, police found a shotgun stolen from a nearby home a few days before Ouverson's body was found. On Aug. 1, the shotgun, two rifles, hunting knives and other items were taken from the Franklin Township home of Karri and Chris Baumann. They live about a mile from Ruth and Doug Ouverson. Two guns taken from the Baumanns' were found by investigators in the Ouverson barn.

Police showed Doug Ouverson a surveillance video from a Buffalo Super America. Brooks is seen using Ruth Ouverson's ATM card, and he's wearing Doug Ouverson's orange Harley Davidson T-shirt and grayish-blue cargo shorts, Ouverson told police. The clothing was taken from the bedroom closet where Ruth Ouverson's body was found, the husband told police.

Signs of trouble

Karri Baumann knew something was wrong Aug. 1 when she drove up to her home with her 14-month-old son at mid-afternoon and noticed the front door damaged and unfamiliar items in her yard.

"I knew we had guns [her husband hunts], so I drove to the neighbors and called 911," Baumann said Monday. She said she didn't see the burglars, but she suspects they fled out a side door before police arrived, leaving behind items they brought with them and taking guns and other items with them. She said a police dog tracked the thieves through the woods to a neighbor's house but lost the scent.

When Baumann heard Ruth Ouverson had died in a similar burglary a mile away, she was grateful to be alive: "Somebody was watching out for me."

In the Super America video of Brooks he had asked others there for directions to North Dakota. He used her card about five more times in Minnesota, police said.