A husband who claimed his wife had disappeared has been charged with murder after her strangled body was found buried in crawlspace at their home.
The body of Maria Pew Fury, 28, was found after husband Joshua David Fury, also 28, had reported her missing.
Fury has been charged with second-degree murder, Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman announced Tuesday.
It alleged the Minnesotan strangled his wife by putting a plastic bag over her head before burying her body.
Police were dispatched to the couple’s Maple Grove home on the 11000 block of Red Fox Drive after Joshua claimed Maria had vanished and they found her cellphone inside.
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A two-day search was launched with teams on the ground and searching by helicopter.
Police served a search warrant on Saturday at the couple home where sniffer dogs detected human remains in a crawlspace.
A second search warrant allowed police to dig in the crawlspace and her body was found about 1.30am Saturday after hours of digging.
Police found the preliminary cause of death to be asphyxiation from a plastic bag taped over her head and nose.
Investigator interviews with Maria’s family, friends and mother found that the couple was having marital problems and Fury was 'controlling and possessive'.
Maria's mother said her daughter was going to leave him.
Fury was arrested and at first gave multiple statements insisting he didn’t harm his wife and tried to blame her killing on one of her former boyfriends.
But, the police said, he 28-year-old eventually confessed that he killed Maria by strangling her, putting a plastic bag over her head and burying her body.
He told investigators he suffers from depression and attempted to commit suicide following the murder.
He is expected to make his first court appearance in the death of his wife today. Bail could cost $2m.
Maria Fury's parents, Lissa Weimelt and Bill Pew, condemned Fury's murder as a 'horrific, unthinkable crime'.
A family statement said: "Maria Pew is a victim of a horrific, unthinkable crime.
"But we will not allow her to be remembered that way; Maria would hate it if the world saw her as a victim.
"Maria was so much more. She was our daughter, our niece, our cousin, our friend; she loved her family and was fiercely loyal.
"A happy, strong, resilient, supportive, and caring individual, Maria did so much in her 28 years.
"But she also left behind hopes and dreams, and she left undone infinite possibilities.
The family have started a fundraiser to support Cornerstone, an organization that works with families experiencing domestic violence, in Maria's name.
