Second Suspect Sentenced in Alleged Murder for Hire Plot

(KNSI) — The wife of a suspect accused in a murder-for-hire plot allegedly orchestrated by the victim’s wife has been sentenced to three years in prison.

Twenty-six-year-old Katrina Marie Hunt pled guilty to aiding and abetting first-degree assault in February. The charge of aiding and abetting first-degree murder was dismissed.

In August of 2022, police responded to a home in Sauk Rapids to find the victim 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.

According to the criminal complaint, in a sworn statement, Hunt’s husband, Christian David Kane, told investigators that 51-year-old Maria Foster asked him to come to her house and kill her husband because he was abusive. Kane said Foster told him after her husband was dead, he could move into the house with Hunt and a child and have all of her husband’s belongings.

Hunt faced up to 20 years in prison and a $30,000 fine.

Kane was charged with attempted first-degree murder and first-degree assault. He pled guilty to one count of first-degree attempted murder and was sentenced to 15 years in prison in March.

Foster, the alleged mastermind, also pled guilty in February to aiding and abetting first-degree attempted murder. A charge of aiding and abetting first-degree assault will be dismissed during sentencing on April 28th. Before the plea deal, she faced a prison term of 20 years to life if convicted.

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