A defense attorney for a Finley, N.D., woman accused of killing her husband has filed a notice stating she was mentally ill at time of the murder and was not responsible for her actions.
Investigators said that Sherry Midstokke, 61, admitted to them that she killed her husband, Lyle Midstokke, 66, in the couple’s home using a combination of drugs and asphyxiation on Feb. 3.
“At the time of the offense, Ms. Midstokke lacked substantial capacity to comprehend the harmful nature or consequences of her conduct,” her attorney Blake Hankey wrote in a notice filed April 24. “…her conduct is the result of a loss or serious distortion of her capacity to recognize reality and is therefore not criminally responsible for her conduct.”
In late February, State District Judge Steven Marquart ordered a mental evaluation for Midstokke. She was transported to North Dakota State Hospital on Monday and brought back to Cass County jail the same day.
Finely, a town of 445 people located in Steele County, doesn’t have a jail so Midstokke has been kept in Fargo.
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Hankey also has filed a motion to move Midstokke’s trial to another county or municipality, citing numerous media reports about her crime and the size of her community as reasons she could not receive a fair trial in Finley.
Both Sherry and Lyle Midstokke grew up in Finley. In recent years, Sherry worked as a certified nursing assistant in the nearby town of Aneta while Lyle farmed.
Midstokke’s next hearing date had not been set as of Wednesday.
