Martha Marlene “Molly” Woltman, a 58-year-old White/Caucasian woman from Stillwater, Minnesota, was found dead on the night of May 19, 2025, at a rural property in St. Croix County, Wisconsin. What initially brought deputies to the property was not a report of gunfire, but concern from Woltman’s family. Her daughter had been unable to reach her by telephone or text message and requested that authorities check on her welfare. At about 9 p.m., deputies went to the property in the 700 block of 292nd Avenue in Springfield Township, near the unincorporated community of Hersey, where they discovered Woltman and 65-year-old Paul P. Hellem dead.
Investigators determined that Woltman had been shot once with a 9-millimeter handgun. Hellem also had a single gunshot wound. St. Croix County Sheriff Scott Knudson said investigators found no indications that a physical struggle had taken place. Authorities concluded that Woltman’s death was a homicide and Hellem’s death was a suicide, determining that Hellem had shot Woltman and then killed himself. Investigators believed the shootings occurred sometime between Sunday, May 18, and Monday, May 19. The last known communication from Woltman had reportedly occurred shortly after 2 p.m. Sunday, when a friend received a text message from her.
The setting of the killings was a rural piece of property owned by one of Woltman’s relatives. According to Sheriff Knudson, there were no permanent structures on the property. Woltman kept goats there, while Hellem appeared to have been staying in a camper located on the land. The circumstances immediately raised the significance of the relationship between Woltman and Hellem because this was not the first time authorities had been called to investigate violence involving the two. They had previously lived together, and Hellem had a documented history of domestic violence against Woltman.
That history included a serious incident at Woltman’s Stillwater home in December 2023. According to court records described in news reports, Woltman and Hellem had argued for hours about Hellem’s excessive alcohol use, and she eventually told him to leave. Instead, Hellem began throwing her clothing outside and then physically attacked her. The criminal complaint alleged that he grabbed Woltman by the hair, dragged her into the living room and threw her to the floor. He then placed his hands over her face and moved a hand to her neck, applying pressure that interfered with her ability to breathe. Woltman eventually escaped from him and ran outside. A U.S. Postal Service letter carrier encountered her with visible redness to her face and neck, and she urgently asked the carrier to call 911 before seeking refuge at a neighboring home.
Hellem left in Woltman’s vehicle following that attack and was located several hours later. He was arrested in connection with the domestic assault as well as for driving under the influence of alcohol. Prosecutors originally charged him with felony domestic assault by strangulation. Woltman also obtained an order for protection, alleging that Hellem had broken her telephone while she attempted to call 911, dragged her by her hair, covered her mouth and nose, pinned her down and choked her. Court records indicated the two had been living together since July 2022. A domestic-assault no-contact order was also imposed against Hellem.
The felony strangulation case did not ultimately result in a felony conviction. Hellem reached a plea agreement and pleaded guilty in August 2024 to misdemeanor fifth-degree assault. In October, he was sentenced to 90 days in the Washington County Jail, but 80 days were stayed for one year. He received credit for the 10 days he had already served and was placed on supervised probation for one year. The domestic-assault no-contact order had previously been canceled by a Washington County District Court judge on June 5, 2024; publicly reported court records did not explain why it was vacated. Thus, when Woltman was killed in May 2025, Hellem was still within the probationary period stemming from his earlier assault on her.
There was no arrest, homicide charge, trial or conviction in connection with Woltman’s killing because authorities identified Hellem as the person who shot her and concluded that he died by suicide at the scene. His death ended the possibility of prosecuting him for her homicide. Sheriff Knudson characterized Woltman’s killing as another domestic-related death in a particularly difficult year for St. Croix County, emphasizing that such violence was committed not by strangers but by people known and trusted by their victims.
Outside the circumstances of her death, Woltman was remembered for a life centered on caring for other people. She had graduated from Stillwater High School in 1984 and studied nursing, eventually working as a nurse, including part-time employment with the Minnesota Department of Corrections. Her obituary described her as devoted to her five children, friends, patients and animals, with interests that included spending time outdoors, golfing, boating on the St. Croix River, traveling, gardening and making gifts for people she loved. Sheriff Knudson said accounts of Woltman consistently portrayed someone who had dedicated her life to caring for others. Her killing left five children and an extended community of relatives, friends, coworkers and patients grieving a death authorities attributed to a man who had already been convicted of assaulting her less than a year earlier.
