Minneapolis man pleads guilty to stabbing wife to death

(Original Post 6-3-08)
A Minneapolis man has pleaded guilty to 2nd degree intentional murder just before he was about to stand trial in the death of his wife. After chasing his wife, Kyra Simonian, around their apartment screaming, "Do you love me?!" killing her by stabbing her 15 times in the head and neck then smashing her head in with a hammer, Matthew Gretz then flew to New York City on a business trip. Police found Simonian's blood on the suitcase her husband took to New York after he returned from his trip.

County Attorney Mike Freeman said this morning "the DNA was very clear" that Gretz killed Simonian, 32. However, Freeman said even though Gretz entered "a straight up plea" on what he was being charged for, "we don't know why he committed this crime."

Simonian was a graduate student at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design. She lived about a block away from the college with her husband, who worked in marketing at Target Corp. They had talked about moving back to Chicago, where they met.

Gretz, who pleaded guilty to 2nd degree intentional murder, will be sentenced June 25. He faces over 25 years in prison.

(Update 6-26-08) Gretz was sentenced to 25 1/2 years in prison with parole in 17 for the murder of his wife. “I stabbed and intentionally killed my wife,” he said in court. He was given credit for almost 9 months served in jail, and is eligible for release after 2/3 of his sentence.