Husband, 28, who reported his wife missing is charged with her murder after he ‘strangled her to death with a plastic bag and buried her body in a crawl space’ because she ‘wanted to leave him’
- Joshua David Fury, 28, has been charged with murdering his wife Maria Fury, 28
- Her body was found in a crawl space in their Minnesota home’s basement on Saturday, two days after he reported her missing to police on Thursday April 30
- Preliminary cause of death is asphyxiation from plastic bag taped over her head
- Investigator interviews found the couple was having marital problems and Fury was ‘controlling and possessive’ and Maria intended to leave him
- Fury at first blamed the killing on wife’s ex-boyfriend before confessing
Minnesota man Joshua David Fury, 28, has been charged with the murder of his wife Maria Fury, 28, after her body was found buried in the basement of their home on Saturday
A Minnesota man who claimed his wife had disappeared has been charged with murder after her strangled body was found buried in a crawlspace in their home.
Joshua David Fury, 28, has been charged with second-degree murder for allegedly strangling his wife Maria Pew Fury, 28, by putting a plastic bag over her head and burying her body, Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman announced Tuesday.
He had reported her missing on Thursday April 30, but her body was found two days later.
Police were dispatched to the couple’s Maple Grove home on the 11000 block of Red Fox Drive after Joshua claimed Maria had vanished and they found her cellphone inside.
A two-day large-scale search was launched with teams on the ground and searching by helicopter.
Police served a search warrant on Saturday May 2 at the couple’s Maple Grove home where sniffer dogs detected human remains in a crawl space that was no more than four feet tall and had a dirt floor in the basement.
The body of Maria Pew Fury, 28, was found in a crawl space in their Minnesota home’s basement on Saturday, two days after Joshua reported her missing to police on Thursday April 30
Investigator interviews found the couple was having marital problems, Fury was ‘controlling and possessive’ and Maria intended to leave him
A second search warrant allowed police to dig in the crawl space and her body was found about 1.30am Saturday after hours of digging.
Police found the preliminary cause of death to be asphyxiation from a plastic bag taped over her head and nose.
Investigator interviews with Maria’s family, friends and mother found that the couple was having marital problems and Fury was ‘controlling and possessive’.
Maria’s mother said her daughter was going to leave him.
Fury was arrested and at first gave multiple statements insisting that he didn’t harm his wife and cast blame on one of her former boyfriends.
He eventually confessed that he killed Maria by strangling her, putting a plastic bag over her head and burying her body, police said.
Police were dispatched to the couple’s Maple Grove home on the 11000 block of Red Fox Drive (above) last week following Joshua’s missing report and a massive two-day search was launched for Maria. Her body was found Saturday buried in a crawl space in the basement of the home
A missing person poster for Maria that was shared on social media pictured above
He told investigators that he suffers from depression and attempted to commit suicide following the murder.
He expected to make his first court appearance in the death of his wife on Wednesday. Prosecutors will be seeking bail of $2million.
Maria Fury’s parents, Lissa Weimelt and Bill Pew, condemned Fury’s murder as a ‘horrific, unthinkable crime’.
‘Maria Pew is a victim of a horrific, unthinkable crime. But we will not allow her to be remembered that way; Maria would hate it if the world saw her as a victim. Maria was so much more. She was our daughter, our niece, our cousin, our friend; she loved her family and was fiercely loyal. A happy, strong, resilient, supportive, and caring individual, Maria did so much in her 28 years. But she also left behind hopes and dreams, and she left undone infinite possibilities,’ they said in a family statement.
The family is asking that people consider supporting Cornerstone, an organization that works with families experiencing domestic violence and have started a fundraiser to support to group in Maria’s name.