A Shorewood woman stopped her murder trial Monday by pleading guilty to killing her boyfriend and stuffing him in a freezer last summer.
On the fourth day of her trial, Jetaun Wheeler, 30, pleaded guilty to second-degree unintentional murder in the death of Eddie Frank Sole, 58. She's scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 21, according to the Hennepin County attorney's office.
Prosecutors will seek a 15-year prison sentence, the maximum sentence allowed for the crime under Minnesota sentencing guidelines.
"While the presentation of our case was going well, we would have needed Wheeler's preteen children to testify, and that would have been terribly difficult for them," Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman said. "By pleading guilty, it spares her children and she will still do significant time in prison."
Authorities previously said Sole was trying to leave his relationship with Wheeler. According to the charges, Wheeler beat Sole with a closet rod on about July 31 and then wrapped him in plastic and duct tape. She then bought a chest freezer to hide his body.
The defense attorney argued that Sole's death was unintentional. Wheeler claimed that she acted in self-defense during a fight.
South Lake Minnetonka Police went to Wheeler's home with a search warrant and found Sole's frozen body in the freezer, which was behind two mattresses in the garage.
Mary Lynn Smith
