In the autumn of 2011, the quiet community of Sauk Rapids, Minnesota, was unsettled by the discovery of a local man's untimely death. James Kelly Omara, a 43-year-old Caucasian male, was found deceased in his apartment on November 1, 2011, though his date of death was determined to be October 29, 2011. The building manager was led to Omara's residence by a strange odor, where he made the grim discovery of Omara's body on the couch with a pillow over his head.
An investigation revealed he had been fatally shot in the forehead.
The investigation into his death quickly focused on his 38-year-old ex-wife, Angelina Mae Omara. Authorities learned that Angelina had been staying with James at his apartment for about a month leading up to his death. The case took a darker turn when, just days after James' body was found, Angelina's boyfriend, 36-year-old Michael Pies, was discovered dead in a motel room in Ashland, Wisconsin, on November 2nd. He too had been shot in the head, with a pillow placed over his face, mirroring the manner of James Omara's death.
Angelina Omara became the primary suspect in both homicides. She was arrested in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, on November 3, 2011, after her vehicle was found abandoned. Initially, she was charged with second-degree murder in the death of her ex-husband. Angelina's account of the events was inconsistent, at one point claiming someone else had killed her husband. However, after a brief trial in November 2012, she abruptly changed her plea to guilty of the first-degree murder of James Omara.
In December 2012, Angelina Omara was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the murder of James Kelly Omara. While she was also charged with first-degree intentional homicide in the death of Michael Pies in Wisconsin, the guilty plea and life sentence in Minnesota ensured she would spend the rest of her life incarcerated. The motive for the killings was never fully clarified, leaving behind a tragic story of double homicide.
