John Jefferson
Top inset: Sonja Moen (West Funeral Home). Bottom inset: Spencer Moen (Cass County Jail). Background: The location where Sonja Moen was killed (KVLY).
A North Dakota man will spend the rest of his life in prison for the beating death of his wife, who he initially said face-planted on the stairs.
Spencer Moen, 32, learned his fate on Monday for the murder of Sonja Moen, 30. He was convicted in October.
“I just can’t seem to get out of that space. You beat the life out of my daughter. And to make it worse, you did it in front of the kids,” said the victim’s mother, Kristin Scofield, in court. “I will continue to pray for forgiveness, but currently, it is not in my soul. I’m sorry.”
Spencer Moen apologized to the family.
“I’d like everyone to know the remorse, pain and sorrow I feel, I never meant for this to happen,” Spencer Moen said Monday. “She was everything to me. I feel lost without her. If I had the ability to go back and change it, I absolutely would. … I am deeply sorry and promise to be a better man.”
The case came to light on Aug. 10, 2023, when Spencer Moen called 911, according to the affidavit for probable cause obtained by Law&Crime. Police found Sonja Moen lying in a bathtub not breathing or responding. She was declared dead at the scene.
Spencer Moen first told cops his wife had slept in the bathtub the previous night and was now unresponsive.
“He said she had slept there because she had said she was going to take a bath or a shower,” the affidavit stated. “He also said she had vomited last night as well.”
Cops noted visible injuries on the victim, including what appeared to be defensive wounds.
“Sonja had significant bruising on the left side of her face and forehead,” cops wrote. “Both of her eyes appeared to be swollen shut and had dried blood from the right corner of her mouth. Sonja had bruising on the backs of her hands, which appear to be defensive wounds.”
Sonja Moen’s mother arrived within a minute of the first responding officer, police said.
Police asked the mother and Spencer Moen to step out of the bathroom, where Sonja Moen’s body was, into the adjoining bedroom.
“After exiting the bathroom, [the mother] looked at Spencer and said ‘get the f— out of my house,”” police said. “While in the bedroom, officers noticed bruising on Spencer’s right hand in the knuckle area.”
Cops also said they found blood on the master bedroom floor. Blood drops were spotted on the left side of the bed, on the floor, and at the foot of the bed going toward the bathroom, police said.
Officers said they learned that Spencer Moen had been golfing the day before, on Aug. 9. Sonja Moen went to pick him up after dark.
They purchased sandwiches and cigarettes at a Holiday Convenience Store on the way home, Spencer Moen told police.
“According to witness statements, Sonja and Spencer would have arrived home sometime around 10 PM (CST),” police said.
According to Sonja Moen’s mother, Spencer Moen took the children to day care the morning of Aug. 10 between 7 a.m. and 7:30 a.m. — approximately two hours before he usually brought them there. The normal time was 9 a.m., the mother told police.
Officers detained Spencer Moen and took him to the police department for an interview. He said that he and his wife had been intoxicated when they arrived home.
“When asked about the injuries to Sonja’s face, Spencer explained that when they arrived home from Mapleton, Sonja had tripped coming up the steps from the garage into the house and ‘face planted,’” police wrote.
In further conversation with officers, Spencer Moen said he put their children to bed. After that, he returned downstairs to Sonja Moen and argued with her again while smoking in the garage. He claimed his wife smacked him in the back of the head.
Spencer Moen claimed his wife later jumped on him while he was in bed. They rolled off the side of the bed as she punched him. He pushed her away by her throat, but she kept attacking, he claimed.
Spencer Moen asserted he punched her in the face three to four times.
“F— you, I’m taking a shower,” Sonja Moen said, according to this account.
But police did not find any marks on Spencer Moen that indicated his wife punched him, according to the affidavit.
In this account, Sonja Moen entered the bathroom, but Spencer Moen heard no running water from the tub, he said. The defendant asserted he went downstairs for about 15 minutes to smoke after hearing a commotion in the bathtub but not checking.
“Spencer was asked if it would be fair to say that Sonja had fallen in the tub due to the head trauma, associated to the intentional punches,” officers said. “Spencer stated, ‘Sure.’”
Spencer Moen said that when he returned, he saw his wife lying in the bathtub alive and making noise but not talking.
“Spencer states he dumped water over her head to get her attention, so she would return to the bedroom to go to sleep,” police wrote. “Sonja didn’t give him a response and remained in the tub.”
Spencer Moen said he returned to bed and slept. Upon waking up, he found Sonja Moen in the tub and tried to wake her up. She was cold to the touch. He then took the children to the day care.
Spencer Moen said he returned home and tried to wake her up again. When she did not, he called her mother to say Sonja Moen was not waking up and that he did not think she was breathing. He then called 911.
Cops said they also spoke with the children.
“According to one of the children, they were present when Spencer and Sonja were wrestling and observed Sonja’s blood on Spencer’s face,” police said. “It should also be noted, officers were also able to recover Sonja and Spencer’s Apple iPhones.”
Police said that it turned out that Sonja Moen’s eldest daughter called her the night of Aug. 9. But Spencer Moen picked up at 10:41 p.m.
“She explained Spencer’s voice sounded irritated and he told her to go to bed because it was late,” police said. “Spencer’s daughter advised she heard Sonja in the background snoring.”
Spencer Moen denied this conversation happened.
Police said they found a video on the defendant’s phone showing Sonja Moen lying in the bathtub. It was time-stamped Aug. 9 at 11:37 p.m.
“The video shows Sonja lying in the opposite direction from where she was found by responding patrol officers,” cops said. “It appears Sonja was having extreme difficulty with breathing and lying in an abnormal sleeping position. Sonja was also exhibiting a sound similar to snoring, which was described by Moen’s oldest child. Based off my training and experience, the sound being made by Sonja appears to be consistent with agonal breathing [which is labored breathing associated with agony or dying].”
Police determined the husband filmed the video based on him calling out her name, but he did nothing to help her while filming. The autopsy determined Sonja Moen suffered a subdural hematoma and died from a blunt force trauma to the head. She also suffered a fractured rib.
Alberto Luperon contributed to this report.
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