Heather L. Horst was like a sister to Aaron W. Allen, so when she said her husband was abusive and the only way she could escape was if he was dead, Allen helped plan his shooting, according to charges filed Monday.
Horst, 24, and Allen, 25, of South St. Paul, were charged Monday with second-degree murder and conspiracy to commit a felony for the death of her husband, Brandon J. Horst, 25, a St. Paul National Guardsman.
Brandon Horst was found unresponsive on Aug. 5 in the home the couple shared on the 400 block of Bellows Street on the city's West Side.
According to charges:
Shortly after 1 a.m. on Aug. 5, Heather Horst called 911 and reported that her husband was in bed with a lot of blood coming from his head. She said she did not know what happened. Authorities found Brandon Horst in the upstairs bedroom with a single gunshot wound to the head. A single 9mm casing was also found on the bed.
Officers searched the house, which was dirty and filled with garbage, but there were no signs that it had been ransacked. Heather Horst told police she and her husband had been arguing for days about having an open relationship. The couple each had other partners lined up. Heather Horst told police her marriage was tumultuous and that her husband had assaulted her before. She said they argued before Brandon Horst went to work at 2 p.m. on Aug. 4.
Heather Horst's friend, who is Brandon Horst's stepsister and Allen's fiancée, initially corroborated a version of that story, but she admitted to police on Aug. 9 what happened.
She said that Heather Horst came to the apartment that she shared with Allen and said, "I want him dead." She explained that they had been arguing a lot over the past few days. Heather Horst told Allen that she wanted to make it look like someone broke into the house.
