MONROE - A 60-year-old woman surrounded by friends and family was sentenced to seven years in prison Wednesday afternoon after a judge ruled her act of gun violence against her ex-husband is indicative of a "contagion in society" that "is no longer going to be tolerated."
Roxann Nordeng, Brodhead, pleaded guilty in November to a first-degree felony charge of recklessly endangering safety. Charges of first-degree attempted homicide, burglary and pointing a firearm at a person were dismissed but read in, meaning Judge William Johnston could consider them in his sentence.
The charges were filed against Nordeng after she showed up late May 9 at her estranged husband's trailer home at the Crazy Horse Campground west of Brodhead with a loaded Smith & Wesson .380 caliber semi-automatic pistol. She bought the gun for herself after he left her, then took a concealed-carry class to learn how to use it.
"Roxann kicked the door open and she was pointing a gun at me," her now ex-husband, Arthur Nordeng, 65, told the court in May. He grabbed the barrel of the gun to point it away from him, and in the ensuing struggle over the gun, it fired upwards, causing no injuries but leaving a hole in the screen door.
He said she was making good on "many" threats on his life and the life of his girlfriend (now fiancé) Chasadie M. Ayotte, 28. Investigators found validity to his testimony in Roxann Nordeng's Facebook messages and psychiatric records and in Brodhead police reports - although some of this evidence is disputed.
Roxann Nordeng was released from jail on a $25,000 bond in September, and Arthur Nordeng told the court Wednesday he's had trouble sleeping ever since out of fear she'll return for him.
"Well, I don't believe she ought to be walking around the streets. I don't think she should have any leniency," he told the judge.
He moved out of his wife's home in 2011 and a few weeks later she discovered what defense attorney Philip Brehm described as a "bombshell": that he was dating a woman more than half his age, Ayotte. The Nordengs have since divorced, after more than 20 years of marriage.
"Roxann thought they had a perfect marriage," Brehm said. He argued Nordeng is a woman of good character with no criminal record who, in her anguish, made a mistake. She didn't intend to kill him with the gun, he said, but to force him to explain his decision to leave her and to "get closure."
"This simply does not cry out for a harsh sentence," Brehm said. He recommended probation.
Brehm submitted 11 letters of support for Nordeng from friends and family. Another five people read letters of support before the court. Among the roughly 16 people who came to support Nordeng was her 82-year-old mother.
Rev. David Krohn, pastor at Church of the Nazarene in Brodhead, testified to Nordeng's faith and volunteer work and asked the judge to order her to do community service instead of a prison sentence.
Several tearful women testified next to Nordeng's giving nature. She took in troubled teenagers, they said, took care of her neglected grandchildren and her whole life has selflessly helped others and worked hard.
"There isn't an evil, hateful, vindictive bone in her body," Samantha Hess said. "She is the woman my son calls grandma."
When prosecutor Jeffrey Kohl questioned Hess and the others about Nordeng's relationship with her ex-husband, all denied ever hearing her threaten to harm him or Ayotte. Hess did say, however, that Nordeng referred to Ayotte using derogatory language.
Nordeng's only child with her ex-husband, 20-year-old Stephanie Nordeng, testified last.
"I feel her pain as if it were mine ... I can't imagine having to take my children to visit their grandmother in jail," she said. The courtroom went quiet as she stopped to cover her face with her hands and sob silently.
In the final statement to the court before the sentencing, Roxann Nordeng told Judge Johnston she takes "full responsibility" and admitted what she'd done was "very bad." She said she is grateful for her friends and family and is learning to accept a new life without her husband.
Johnston said he believed Nordeng's remorse but did not think she comprehended the seriousness of the offense. Nordeng's chronic major depression and diagnosed personality disorder of co-dependency explained how she could "explosively act" on her feelings "with little awareness," he said.
"This was a very, very close, dangerous situation," he said. Counseling was not enough for Nordeng, he added. "I think it would diminish the significance of this offense to place you on probation."
Nordeng received five and a half years less than the maximum sentence allowed of 17 years and six months. Johnston ordered five years of extended supervision to follow her seven-year prison sentence, for a total sentence of 12 years.
She has 20 days to file an appeal.
Roxann Nordeng, Brodhead, pleaded guilty in November to a first-degree felony charge of recklessly endangering safety. Charges of first-degree attempted homicide, burglary and pointing a firearm at a person were dismissed but read in, meaning Judge William Johnston could consider them in his sentence.
The charges were filed against Nordeng after she showed up late May 9 at her estranged husband's trailer home at the Crazy Horse Campground west of Brodhead with a loaded Smith & Wesson .380 caliber semi-automatic pistol. She bought the gun for herself after he left her, then took a concealed-carry class to learn how to use it.
"Roxann kicked the door open and she was pointing a gun at me," her now ex-husband, Arthur Nordeng, 65, told the court in May. He grabbed the barrel of the gun to point it away from him, and in the ensuing struggle over the gun, it fired upwards, causing no injuries but leaving a hole in the screen door.
He said she was making good on "many" threats on his life and the life of his girlfriend (now fiancé) Chasadie M. Ayotte, 28. Investigators found validity to his testimony in Roxann Nordeng's Facebook messages and psychiatric records and in Brodhead police reports - although some of this evidence is disputed.
Roxann Nordeng was released from jail on a $25,000 bond in September, and Arthur Nordeng told the court Wednesday he's had trouble sleeping ever since out of fear she'll return for him.
"Well, I don't believe she ought to be walking around the streets. I don't think she should have any leniency," he told the judge.
He moved out of his wife's home in 2011 and a few weeks later she discovered what defense attorney Philip Brehm described as a "bombshell": that he was dating a woman more than half his age, Ayotte. The Nordengs have since divorced, after more than 20 years of marriage.
"Roxann thought they had a perfect marriage," Brehm said. He argued Nordeng is a woman of good character with no criminal record who, in her anguish, made a mistake. She didn't intend to kill him with the gun, he said, but to force him to explain his decision to leave her and to "get closure."
"This simply does not cry out for a harsh sentence," Brehm said. He recommended probation.
Brehm submitted 11 letters of support for Nordeng from friends and family. Another five people read letters of support before the court. Among the roughly 16 people who came to support Nordeng was her 82-year-old mother.
Rev. David Krohn, pastor at Church of the Nazarene in Brodhead, testified to Nordeng's faith and volunteer work and asked the judge to order her to do community service instead of a prison sentence.
Several tearful women testified next to Nordeng's giving nature. She took in troubled teenagers, they said, took care of her neglected grandchildren and her whole life has selflessly helped others and worked hard.
"There isn't an evil, hateful, vindictive bone in her body," Samantha Hess said. "She is the woman my son calls grandma."
When prosecutor Jeffrey Kohl questioned Hess and the others about Nordeng's relationship with her ex-husband, all denied ever hearing her threaten to harm him or Ayotte. Hess did say, however, that Nordeng referred to Ayotte using derogatory language.
Nordeng's only child with her ex-husband, 20-year-old Stephanie Nordeng, testified last.
"I feel her pain as if it were mine ... I can't imagine having to take my children to visit their grandmother in jail," she said. The courtroom went quiet as she stopped to cover her face with her hands and sob silently.
In the final statement to the court before the sentencing, Roxann Nordeng told Judge Johnston she takes "full responsibility" and admitted what she'd done was "very bad." She said she is grateful for her friends and family and is learning to accept a new life without her husband.
Johnston said he believed Nordeng's remorse but did not think she comprehended the seriousness of the offense. Nordeng's chronic major depression and diagnosed personality disorder of co-dependency explained how she could "explosively act" on her feelings "with little awareness," he said.
"This was a very, very close, dangerous situation," he said. Counseling was not enough for Nordeng, he added. "I think it would diminish the significance of this offense to place you on probation."
Nordeng received five and a half years less than the maximum sentence allowed of 17 years and six months. Johnston ordered five years of extended supervision to follow her seven-year prison sentence, for a total sentence of 12 years.
She has 20 days to file an appeal.