Man Pleads Guilty to Attempted Murder in Sauk Rapids Stabbing

(KNSI) – One of three people accused of conspiring to stab a man to death in Sauk Rapids has pleaded guilty.

Christian David Kane entered his plea in Benton County court on Wednesday for one count of first-degree attempted murder. The 20-year-old man will be sentenced on February 24th. He is facing 12 to 20 years in prison. The plea deal called for a charge of first-degree assault to be dismissed at sentencing.

In August, police responded to a stabbing at a house on the 1000 block of Benedict Drive. They say the victim had been stabbed three times in the chest and once in the neck, back, and the back of his head near the base of his skull. He also had a large gash on his forearm. He was rushed to the hospital for treatment.

The victim told police his wife, 51-year-old Maria Foster, picked him up from the airport, and she instructed him to sit in a chair in the garage while she went to get him coffee. He said his wife came back and sat down, and that’s when Kane came up behind him and began to stab him.

A witness said Kane walked up to him a few blocks from the crime scene with his shirt full of blood and said he had a cut on his finger and needed a ride to the hospital. Police found Kane at the hospital, where he was arrested.

According to the criminal complaint, in a sworn statement, Kane told investigators that Foster asked him to come to her house and kill her husband because he was abusive. He said Foster told him after her husband was dead, he could move into the house with his wife, 25-year-old Katrina Hunt, and a child and have all of her husband’s belongings. He explained he hid in the garage and waited for them to come home, and once the husband was sitting in the chair, he came up and started stabbing him from behind.

Foster allegedly admitted to police that she convinced Kane to come to the house and kill her husband and corroborated the details given to police by Kane. She also said she communicated with Hunt via Facebook Messenger, gave her the address, and let her know when they were close so Kane could be prepared.

Hunt told police in a sworn statement that she was aware of the murder plot and her story matched what Kane and Foster told police.

Foster and Hunt have both been charged with aiding and abetting attempted first-degree murder and aiding and abetting first-degree assault. Their cases continue to work their way through the court.

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