Mom tries to blame tot for murder, then confesses

A northern Minnesota woman charged with shooting her children's father tried to pin some of the blame on her 3-year-old son, police say.

By PAUL WALSH, Star Tribune

Last update: October 26, 2009 - 8:20 PM

A 25-year-old mother of four fatally shot the children's father in the back of the head in their northern Minnesota home and then tried to pin some of the blame on their 3-year-old son before confessing, according to charges filed Monday.

Betsy M. Hanks of Kelliher was charged in Beltrami County District Court with second-degree intentional murder. She remained jailed on $1.5 million bail.

According to the charges, Hanks called 911 late on the morning of Oct. 20 to report finding 27-year-old Matthew D. Albert in bed with a gunshot wound to the head.

She told authorities that they had been up until 4 that morning discussing Albert's claims that Hanks had been romantically involved with another man. She said she denied the accusation, according to the charges.

After sending the two older children -- ages 6 and 5 -- off to school that morning, she said that she and the 3-year-old boy had gone to Mizpah, Minn., leaving Albert and their 18-month-old child behind.

Hanks said that when she returned home that day, she found Albert in bed, shot in the head but still breathing, according to the charges. She said that Albert kept a pistol in a case by the bed, but the case was empty and the gun missing.

On Oct. 22, the same day that Albert died after being hospitalized in the Twin Cities, Hanks told a Sheriff's Office investigator that she had seen her 3-year-old son playing with the pistol and that it went off as she tried to take it from him, wounding Albert in the head, according to the charges.

However, later in the interview, Hanks admitted to killing Albert before heading to Mizpah, in hopes of giving her children a better father, according to the charges.

Hanks said she ditched the gun in a swamp and later showed authorities where. The weapon was recovered.

Paul Walsh • 612-673-4482

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