A former North Dakota prosecutor and public defender has been charged with 2nd-degree murder after allegedly brutally beating his ex-wife, Carissa Odegaard, to death in front of their terrified children.
Anders Odegaard, 31, was initially charged with assault but those charges were later upgraded to 2nd degree murder when Carissa succumbed to her injuries, according to the criminal complaint.
The attack happened in front of three of the divorced couple’s five children. Carissa was holding their youngest child when she was attacked, the two others ran outside for help.
When deputies arrived, they found Anders in the kitchen, wearing only underwear, with blood on his face and in his hair.
Carissa was lying in a doorway, unresponsive, in a pool of blood.
According to the criminal complaint, Anders replied, “I don’t feel right”, when asked by the deputy to explain the situation. He was arrested on the scene and Carissa was air-lifted to the hospital, where she later succumbed to her injuries.
“Upon approaching Carissa, the deputy noticed that she was not breathing and had severe head trauma and had blood pooling on the floor by her head,” according to the affidavit.
After interviewing the children, police found that the two were fighting over custody of their children and that he allegedly wouldn’t allow her to take the children to church.
Court records show that the two divorced last fall, on the grounds that their marriage was “irretrievably broken”.
Carissa’s loved ones have created a fundraiser on GoFundMe to help pay for the funeral expenses.
The fundraiser, organized by Jessica Ford, reads, “This horrible tragedy will not be lost on our community. Carissa’s mom friends, community and family will miss her dearly and hope this will help honor her name.”
