A Washington County judge has found a Hugo man guilty of premeditated murder in the September 2024 beating death of his 68-year-old mother in their home.
Washington County District Judge Siv Mjanger found Trevor Joseph Wunderlich, 47, who was 45 at the time, guilty on Oct. 2 following a bench trial, the Washington County Attorney’s Office said.
She found him guilty on all three counts: first-degree premeditated murder, first-degree murder while committing domestic abuse with a past pattern of domestic abuse and second-degree intentional murder. First-degree premeditated murder carries a mandatory sentence of life in prison without the possibility of release. Sentencing is set for Dec. 18 at 1 p.m.
READ MORE → Washington County coverage
His mother, Charlene Wunderlich, could not testify against her son. For years before her death, she documented his abuse in her daily planners, in photographs of her injuries and in text messages begging him to stop, according to the county attorney’s office.
In her findings, Mjanger called that evidence “overwhelming proof” that Wunderlich had abused his mother “on countless occasions.”
At 5:54 p.m. on Sept. 16, 2024, Charlene Wunderlich called 911 from the home on Ingersoll Avenue in Hugo. She told the dispatcher she had been beaten up and begged for help to arrive before he came back.
Sheriff’s deputies found Wunderlich sitting on a kitchen chair over his mother as she lay on the floor. He fled. She died that evening at Regions Hospital. Wunderlich was found the next day hiding in a camper on a nearby property in Hugo.
Mjanger also found the killing was planned. Wunderlich stood to inherit property and a life insurance payout upon his mother’s death and needed money for a balloon payment on a land purchase, the release says. “This was no rash and impulsive act,” Mjanger wrote.
Wunderlich was charged by complaint with second-degree murder on Sept. 19, 2024. A Washington County grand jury indicted him on two counts of first-degree murder on Feb. 11, 2025. He waived his right to a jury trial on Aug. 3, 2026.
“Charlene Wunderlich spent years living in fear of her own son,” Washington County Attorney Kevin Magnuson said.
PREVIOUSLY: Hugo Man Charged in 68-year-old Mom’s Brutal Beating Death
