In the summer of 2021, concern grew for 50-year-old Asian male, Kou Yang of Saint Paul, Minnesota, when he hadn't been seen by family since early July. He was officially reported missing on July 22 of that year. His ex-wife, 40-year-old Karina See Her, with whom he still lived despite their recent divorce, also contacted police to report him missing, suggesting he may have gone to Oklahoma to visit family.
However, she gave conflicting accounts of his whereabouts and when he had left.
The investigation took a turn when Her's own 17-year-old daughter contacted authorities, voicing suspicions that her mother had killed her stepfather. The daughter told police that upon returning home on July 2, she noticed a security camera had been removed and a hole had been dug in the backyard garden, covered by a tarp. A shed was later built over that exact spot. Adding to the suspicion, a neighbor reported a foul odor emanating from the garden area for about a week shortly after July 5. The younger 12-year-old daughter also told her sister about a trip to Taylors Falls with their mother, where Her carried a bag with a long object into the woods and returned without it.
These tips led investigators to execute a search warrant at the residence on Kennard Street. A cadaver dog brought to the property indicated an interest in the new shed. Inside the home, police discovered blood spatter on a bedroom wall that had been recently painted over, with more blood found in the laundry room and garage. On July 31, investigators excavated the ground beneath the shed and uncovered the body of Kou Yang, wrapped in some type of material. An autopsy revealed he had been shot twice in the back of the head, and his death was ruled a homicide.
Karina See Her was arrested and charged with second-degree intentional murder. When confronted by police, she initially claimed the hole in the yard was from a tree stump removal and the bad smell was from their pigeon coop. She later pleaded guilty to the murder of her ex-husband. For her crime, Karina See Her was sentenced to nearly 22 years in prison.
