A killer husband was forced to listen to his mother-in-law’s searing courtroom statement after he was sentenced to life for murdering her daughter.
Spencer Moen, 32, was sentenced to life on Monday for the August 2023 death of his wife, Sonja Moen, 30.
Many of her family members took to the stand to give victim impact statements, including her mother, Kristin Scofield, who said she wouldn’t be able to forgive Moen for the ‘life long trauma’ he gave them.
‘I will continue to pray for forgiveness, but currently, it is not in my soul. I’m sorry,’ she told him. ‘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.
‘You can’t blame her anymore. Everyone saw through that excuse. It’s all on you,’ she continued, according to Inforum.
‘You will miss every significant and insignificant event in their eyes, all because you couldn’t control yourself. You stole [your children’s] opportunity to grow up with a mom full of unconditional love.’
Moen was seen wiping away tears as the family spoke.
The father was convicted of beating his wife to death. He originally told police after calling 911 that her bruising was from face planting on the stairs the night before, according to Law & Crime.
Spencer Moen, 32, was sentenced to life on Monday for the August 2023 death of his wife, Sonja Moen, 30. He was seen crying as her family read their victim impact statements
Many of her family members took to the stand to give victim impact statements, including her mother, Kristin Scofield, who said she wouldn’t be able to forgive Moen for the ‘life long trauma’ he gave them
She was found unresponsive in the bathtub with defensive wounds. Moen claimed his wife had ‘slept there because she had said she was going to take a bath or a shower’ and had vomited the night before.
Police found blood on the bedroom floor, as well as, on the left side and foot of the bed that led toward the bathroom, the outlet reported.
The night before, the couple were spotted at a convenience store picking up sandwiches and cigarettes after Sonja picked up her husband from golfing before arriving home around 10pm.
Moen said his wife tripped up the stairs that evening, explaining the bruises found on her face.
After putting the kids to bed, the couple then got into another argument while they smoked in the garage, according to Moen. He claimed Sonja smacked him in the back of the head, but police found no evidence of an injury there.
The pair then got into a physical altercation into their bedroom, where the husband claimed Sonja jumped on him, causing them to roll off the side of the bed. He said she punched him and he pushed her away by the neck.
He later admitted to police that he hit his wife in the face at least three or four times, according to Law & Crime.
One of children witnessed the bedroom fight, investigators said.
The father was convicted of beating his wife to death in August 2023 after an argument
She was found unresponsive in the bathtub with defensive wounds. A video obtained from Moen’s phone showed her breathing irregularly in the bathtub before her death
Sonja then told her husband she was going to take a shower, but he did not hear the water running. When he returned from a second smoke break, he found his wife in the bathtub not moving.
‘Spencer states he dumped water over her head to get her attention, so she would return to the bedroom to go to sleep,’ the affidavit read. ‘Sonja didn’t give him a response and remained in the tub.’
The next morning, he found his wife still unresponsive in the bathtub and her body cold. He took his kids to daycare two hours earlier than normal before attempting to wake her up again, he claimed. Afterward, he called 911.
Video footage obtained on Moen phone showed his wife lying in the bathtub.
‘It appears Sonja was having extreme difficulty with breathing and lying in an abnormal sleeping position,’ the affidavit said. ‘Sonja was also exhibiting a sound similar to snoring…Based off my training and experience, the sound being made by Sonja appears to be consistent with agonal breathing.’
Agonal breathing happens when a person cannot get enough air and is associated with a medical emergency.
Moen did not help his wife while she struggled.
Moen apologized to her family on Monday, saying in court: ‘I’d like everyone to know the remorse, pain and sorrow I feel, I never meant for this to happen’
A medical examiner determined Sonja died from a subdural hematoma and blunt force trauma wounds to the head.
Moen apologized to her family on Monday, saying in court: ‘I’d like everyone to know the remorse, pain and sorrow I feel, I never meant for this to happen.
‘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.’
