Missing man's former wife charged with murder after search turns up body in St. Paul yard

Aug. 2—As police investigated the disappearance of a 50-year-old man from St. Paul, a neighbor told them about a bad smell coming from the area of the family's garden in the beginning of July.

Authorities found Kou Yang's body on Saturday after a Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension crime scene team excavated an area beneath a shed that Yang's former wife had put up in their backyard on the Greater East Side, according to a criminal complaint filed Monday.

An autopsy showed Yang had been shot twice in the head, said the criminal complaint, which charged Karina See Her, 40, with second-degree intentional murder, not premeditated.

When a sergeant told Her that he didn't think Yang had left the house at Kennard Street and Rose Avenue alive, she "did not refute the statement," the complaint said. She "denied she had an argument with (Yang) the night he went missing," that he threatened her or that they had a fight, the complaint continued.

Police arrested Her on Saturday.

SHE SAID HE WAS LAST SEEN AROUND JUNE 30

The investigation began July 22, when someone called 911 and asked police to conduct a welfare check at Yang's home in the 1100 block of Kennard Street, saying they hadn't seen Yang in a few weeks.

Officers went to the home and talked with Her, who said she didn't know where Yang was. She said he mentioned going to his sister's home in Oklahoma.

Police asked if he'd left in a recreational vehicle because officers had responded to the couple's residence on June 24 on a report of them having a dispute and she had been staying in the RV, the complaint said. Her told police she moved the RV because it couldn't be kept in the driveway.

Her reported that Yang left sometime around June 30 — she said she woke up, and he and his clothes were gone. She also said she tried calling Yang for the past few weeks, but she said her calls went straight to voicemail. Police told her she should file a missing persons report.

Later that afternoon, Her called 911 to file the missing persons report. She explained that she and Yang were divorced, but still living together until they sold their house.

Also on July 22, in the evening, Her's 17-year-old daughter called 911 and reported she hadn't heard from her stepfather for several weeks. She said "she believed her mother may have killed" Yang, the complaint said.

DAUGHTER: 'MOMMY IS SUSPICIOUS'

The 17-year-old had been staying at a friend's house since June 29, and her mother kept texting her and telling her to stay there. The girl returned home July 2 and her mother "got very angry" when she asked about Yang and unexpectedly announced they were moving to Milwaukee, according to the complaint.

She said she saw a hole had been dug where plants were previously in the backyard and a tarp or similar piece of fabric covered it. In the days that followed, her mother put bricks and concrete over the hole and erected a shed over it, the complaint said.

When police asked Her about the hole after arresting her, she said she was trying to repair the patio and had to remove a tree stump. "When asked about something that smelled really bad in her backyard around the week of July 5, 2021, Her said there was a lot of pigeon poop from a coop they had," the complaint continued.

The teen also noticed a security camera from the garage had been removed. In the bedroom the couple had shared, the teen said she pulled back the sheets and saw a large hole in the mattress where pieces had been cut out.

Her younger sister, age 12, texted her after police had left the home that afternoon and wrote, "Mommy is suspicious," according to the complaint. The girl said Her had told her they were going shopping, but instead took her to the Taylors Falls area, put on rubber gloves and took a trash bag with an unknown long object in it into the woods, the complaint continued.

Her later told police "it was trash from her car — a bunch of food," the complaint said. She said she discarded it July 22, which was the day she reported Yang missing.

The 17-year-old reported to police she thought Her had killed her stepfather and buried him in the garden.

FIXING UP HOUSE TO SELL IT

The couple's divorce decree in Ramsey County specified that the RV was to be sold, with the proceeds split evenly between them, and they each had a half-share in the family home. Police who checked the house on July 22 noted several rooms appeared to be in the process of being remodeled.

A neighbor said Her asked his parents questions about their home sale and, while she'd been talking about fixing up and selling her home for $300,000 in August, she "abruptly moved up the selling date to July 23 and was possibly going to sell the home 'as is,'" the complaint said.

After her arrest, Her told police she was short of cash because she was unemployed during the coronavirus pandemic. She spoke of selling the house before trailing off, the complaint said.

Her also said she didn't expect to get a lot of money for the house because they owed the city $18,000. If it didn't sell, it would go to foreclosure, she told police.

On Wednesday, police found Yang's work van at a White Bear Lake storage facility. Officers were able to look into his storage unit and saw what appeared to be tubs of clothing.

On Thursday, officers went to the Kennard Street home with a search warrant and a cadaver dog "indicated interest in the shed handle and door," the complaint said.

Also with a search warrant, police found blood spatter on a bedroom wall, which had been painted over. A carpet-cleaning machine in the garage had blood inside it.

STEPDAUGHTER: HE WOULD HAVE SAID GOODBYE IF HE LEFT

After police arrested Her, she told an investigator "she didn't know if (Yang) was in trouble, running from the law, or did something to someone," the complaint said. She said she thought he left through Uber or a friend since his vehicles were at the house, and he may have put his clothes in a storage unit.

"When asked if she was concerned that (Yang) was going to come back, Her replied, 'No,'" saying it wasn't unusual for him to leave without his red truck, the complaint said.

However, her 17-year-old daughter had told police that it was "entirely out of character" for Yang to be away from home from more than a day or two and that he always took his red truck when he left. She also said he wouldn't have departed without saying goodbye or left his tools behind.

When police told Her that a cadaver dog had alerted to the smell of a dead body in her backyard and repeatedly asked if Yang's body was buried there, the complaint said, "in an attempt to divert attention away from the backyard, Her said, 'There's a hole in the basement. It's plugged up." She referred to "a dead body down there," the complaint continued.

Her is being held in the Ramsey County jail. An attorney for her wasn't listed in a court record as of Monday afternoon.