A 37-year-old man involved in a failed murder-suicide in Champlin will spend at least 13 years in prison.
Robert Siegfried pleaded guilty Thursday in Hennepin County District Court to trying to kill his ex-wife.
During the hearing, Siegfried's attorney noted that he had told him shortly after his arrest that he did not really want a lawyer because he wanted to quickly plead guilty.
His attorney also had Siegfried tell Judge Kathryn Quaintance that before the stabbing, he had been in a state mental hospital and was treated for depression and other psychological issues.
The judge will hand down a sentence of 13 to 15 years in prison at his Jan. 16 sentencing hearing.
Siegfried told the court that he asked his ex-wife to come to his home on Labor Day and pick up their three children. However, he had removed the children from the house, and when she arrived, he stabbed her repeatedly, he admitted.
She fell to the floor and pretended to be dead, according to the criminal complaint. When he went to his bedroom, she managed to get out of the house and call police on her cellphone.
Officers found Siegfried hanging by his neck in the bedroom, but they were able to get him down. On his computer was an e-mail that said both he and his ex-wife were dead, the complaint stated.
