An Osceola man will spend the rest of his life in prison for killing his wife, after a Polk County judge sentenced him on Thursday, Oct. 22.
Jared Danger Ler’che, 43, was sentenced to life in prison, with eligibility for parole after 33 years, and credited with 1,002 days already served. He pleaded no contest in July to first-degree intentional homicide.
The case began on Jan. 22, 2024, when Margaret Ler’che's father asked Polk County dispatchers for a welfare check at about 8:45 p.m., according to the criminal complaint. Officers found Margaret Ler’che, 34, dead in the basement of her Osceola home. Her father told deputies the couple had been having marital problems and that she had been due to move in with him in Iowa that evening.
According to the complaint, deputies traced Ler’che's phone to the Cannon Falls, Minnesota, area after he contacted a crisis line, and he later agreed to meet a deputy at a Kwik Trip near the family home, bringing the couple's two children with him. He was arrested there.
The sentencing closes a case that has been pending in Polk County since early 2024.
