Coon Rapids man charged in conspiracy to kill wife

He wanted his estranged wife beaten to death this weekend, and he was willing pay $10,000 to a relative stranger he met at a bar to make it look like an accident. Or maybe a robbery attempt.

Terrance Craig Dechaney said he wanted to "get back at his wife," to ensure that he got full custody of their children, according to court documents. He'd have the money to pay for her murder after her insurance policy was paid off, he told the hit man he was about to hire.

But that hit man, whom Dechaney thought was the brother-in-law of an acquaintance, was an Anoka County undercover detective. Dechaney, 45, of Coon Rapids, was charged Friday with conspiring to commit the first-degree murder of his wife, Lisa Marie Dechaney.

Dechaney is being held in Anoka County jail in lieu of $300,000 bail. Anoka County District Judge Michael Roith ordered him not to have contact with his wife or three children. If convicted, Dechaney could be sentenced to 20 years.

Authorities had been called to the Dechaney home in St. Francis 18 times in the past two years -- 16 for domestic assault allegations, according to the St. Francis Police Department and Anoka County Sheriff's Office.

Only once was Terry Dechaney arrested during that span -- on Valentine's Day 2007. According to an Anoka County Sheriff's report, Lisa claimed he pushed her away from a car while she was trying to kiss one of the kids. He claimed she tried to slam the car door on his hand.

There was no conviction. As the couple's divorce case was proceeding, a recent court study recommended Dechaney's wife have full custody of their children.

"All charges were dropped, but the main purpose of kicking me out of the house still stands," said an Internet blog that is credited to Dechaney. The blogger wrote that he appeared before Anoka County District Judge Lawrence Johnson last year and offered several other details that would accurately fit a description of Terry Dechaney.

"I am in a county that does and will not believe in joint custody," the writer of the blog complained. The blogger said he had three young children. "What kind of world is this when a father's time is held so cheaply?"

According to court records, Dechaney told an acquaintance, Jeffrey Morin, that he was "looking to hire somebody to harm his estranged wife." Morin said he wasn't interested in the job, but he had a "brother-in-law" who might be.

Morin contacted authorities on May 28. The next day, Dechaney met by arrangement with an undercover detective, posing as a hit man, at Povlitzki's Bar in Spring Lake Park.

Dechaney talked about making "it" look like an accident by beating his estranged 38-year-old wife on the head, according to court documents. Or maybe the hit man could set her up with illegal drugs, so she'd go to prison, the papers said.

Initial payoff

Dechaney said he wanted to meet with the undercover agent again, on June 5. When the agent asked Dechaney how serious he was, Dechaney withdrew money from a cash machine at the bar and handed him $100, "a deposit for the plan," according to the criminal complaint.

The two men met again, as planned, Thursday at Povlitzki's Bar. They left the bar and went for a ride to his estranged wife's home in St. Francis, with Dechaney explaining the home's layout. He assured the undercover agent that the kids would not be home and that he had an alibi for this weekend. Dechaney said once again that he really wanted his kids.

Then, according to court records, he said he was about to come into some money -- $5,000 when he sells a trailer and another $5,000 that he said his father planned to lend him. The life insurance policy his wife held through her work remained valid because their divorce is pending and not finalized, he told the detective, according to court records.

Dechaney told the detective he had been "taken to the cleaners" by his estranged wife. Upon returning to the bar, Dechaney gave the detective $120 more. The undercover officer told Dechaney he would take care of things this weekend, that Dechaney's wife "would be dead." Dechaney told the undercover detective that he was "on board" with the murder plan.