Stephen Allwine Sentenced To Life In Prison For Murdering Wife

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- A Cottage Grove man who killed his wife and attempted to make it look like a suicide has been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Stephen Allwine, 43, was convicted Wednesday night of first-degree premeditated murder in the killing of Amy Allwine on Nov. 13, 2016.

On Friday morning in Washington County Court, Allwine was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Stephen called 911 to report finding his wife dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. He had just returned home after going out to eat with the couple's 9-year-old son.

Investigators found inconsistencies with the suicide scenario. The gun was found in Amy's non-dominate hand, which also had no trace of gunpowder. The gun also did not have a single drop of her blood on it.

It was also determined that a pool of blood had been cleaned up at the scene before officers arrived.

Investigators later found evidence that Stephen tried to hire a hitman to kill her on the dark web. He also bought a drug used to incapacitate people on the internet, which was found in Amy's system.

Prosecutors successfully argued that Stephen's motive was to collect his wife's $700,000 life insurance policy, of which he was the sole benefactor.

Allwine will be soon transferred to the St. Cloud Prison to serve his term.