Dassel Father Faces Long Sentence After Killing Wife

LITCHFIELD (WJON News) -- A Dassel man who shot and killed his wife in front of their two children has been sentenced for murder.

A Meeker County judge has sentenced 36-year-old Bryan Demarais to 30 years and seven months in prison. He gets credit for having served one year and seven months in the county jail.

THE PLEA

Demarais pleaded guilty to one count of 2nd-degree murder and two counts of endangering a child on July 22nd.

Demarais entered a Norgaard plea, which means he does not recall the circumstances of the offense but believes the prosecution has enough evidence to convict him of the offense. A Norgaard plea does not allow a defendant to claim they are innocent of the offenses. Demarais said he was not on his medication and extremely sleep-deprived on the morning of the killing.

THE MOTIVE

According to the charges filed in Meeker County District Court, Demarais shot 29-year-old Kayla Demarais in their Dassel home after an argument over financial problems and infidelity. The incident happened in December 2023.
Court records indicate Demarais called 911 and said he had killed his wife and that there were two kids in the house.

Authorities arrived at the scene, arrested Demarais, escorted the two kids out of the house, and found Kayla Demarais dead with nine .22-caliber gunshot wounds. Four of the shots were to her head.

ADDITIONAL SENTENCING DETAILS

In addition to the sentence on the murder charge, the judge sentenced Demarais to 33 months in prison on one count of felony endangerment of a child and 28 months on a second count of the same charge because the crimes were committed close to the couple's two children.

Because the crimes are a lesser-included charge to the murder conviction, the sentences will be served concurrently and won't add any additional prison time.