William Hoehn was found not guilty on Friday of conspiring to commit murder after being accused of helping his now ex-girlfriend kill a 22-year-old pregnant woman.
A 12-person jury acquitted Hoehn of the charge following an eight-day trial with testimony from Hoehn and nearly a dozen witnesses. The jury deliberated for several hours before handing down their verdict, the Duluth News Tribune reports.
Hoehn had previously pleaded guilty to charges of conspiring to commit kidnapping and lying to police about what happened to Savanna Greywind, who was found dead in Fargo, North Dakota last year.
He will be sentenced on those charges at a later date. The maximum sentence for conspiring to kidnap is 20 years.
William Hoehn, 33, was found not guilty on Friday of conspiring to commit murder
Savanna Greywind (left and right) was eight months pregnant and living next door to Crews and Hoehn when she was murdered in Fargo, North Dakota
Hoehn’s ex-girlfriend Brooke Crews has already been sentenced and is serving life in prison for murdering Greywind and then cutting her baby out of her womb. Greywind was eight months pregnant at the time of her death.
Hoehn testified on Thursday that he thought Crews had given birth to their baby when he came home in August 2007 and heard the sound of a newborn crying.
‘It wasn’t a wail, it wasn’t like a cry or nothing,’ Fox News reports he said about hearing a child when he came home in August 2017. ‘It was a distinct baby sound. I remember feeling elated and I thought, “Oh my god, she had the baby when I was at work”.’
He said his then-partner told him she didn’t know what had come over her and she couldn’t explain the situation.
Hoehn had previously pleaded guilty to charges of conspiring to commit kidnapping and lying to police
Crews (left) was sentenced to life in prison for killing Savanna Greywind and cutting her baby out of her womb. Crews was in a relationship with Hoehn (right) at the time
Hoehn, 33, said his expression dropped when he noticed the gruesome surroundings and saw Greywind, their nextdoor neighbor, dead on the floor.
He added that Greywind had lips like ‘she had had a piece of blue candy’ and pale skin, Inforum.com reports.
Hoehn said as he questioned Crews on what happened, she told him that she had ‘went and got’ Greywind. Hoehn told the courtroom that when he asked his then-girlfriend if she had lied about being pregnant, she said: ‘I think so’.
Hoehn’s ex-girlfriend Brooke Crews testified that he pressured her to get a baby and has already pleaded guilty to murdering Greywind
Inmate Jennifer Robinson is in the same jail as Brooke Crews and said Crews confessed to her she strangled Greywind and cut the baby out within a matter of minutes
Inmate Jennifer Robinson also testified on Thursday and told jurors Hoehn was not involved in the murder.
Crews, testified earlier that she cut the baby girl from Greywind and then Hoehn tied a rope around Greywind’s neck after he arrived home. He denied that’s what happened, and Robinson, who is incarcerated at the same New England prison as Crews, corroborated his story.
According to Robinson, Crews confessed to her that she ‘choked Savanna with a rope, drug her into the bathroom,’ and cut her baby out of her womb within a matter of minutes.
Crews denied that claim but the judge denied a motion by prosecutors to exclude Robinson’s testimony.
Greywind (above) was eight months pregnant
Cass County prosecutor Leah Viste pointed out conflicting stories that Hoehn told police after he and Crews were arrested. Hoehn acknowledged that, but when Viste suggested that Hoehn and Crews would do anything for each other, Hoehn said there were ‘boundaries’.
Judge Tom Olson denied a defense motion for a mistrial at the end of Hoehn’s testimony.
Hoehn said his former girlfriend is responsible and that her claim he put a rope around the victim’s neck is wrong.
He testified on Thursday that the rope was around Greywind’s neck when he entered the bathroom of their apartment.
When Hoehn’s attorney asked him whether Greywind was breathing, Hoehn said he didn’t think so.
Hoehn earlier pleaded guilty to helping Crews cover up the crime.
Crying and sniffling throughout her testimony on Tuesday, Crews told the court that she lied to Hoehn saying she was pregnant in order to save their relationship, which she described as rocky, violent and fueled by booze and drugs.
After a breakup in December 2016, Crews went so far as to email him a phony positive pregnancy test and sonogram photo.
In early August, Hoehn told Crews he didn’t believe she was pregnant and said she needed ‘to produce a baby.’
Crews said she believed this was ‘an ultimatum’.
‘I took that to mean I better have a baby, no matter how it happened,’ Crews said.
This undated evidence photo shows a rope in connection with the killing last year
Greywind’s boyfriend Ashston Matheny is seen with their daughter Haisley Jo, who survived the ordeal of being cut from the womb and is being raised by him now
Greywind lived next door to the couple, and Crews said that Hoehn remarked on how pregnant she was – a remark Crews said she interpreted as a signal that they should take Greywind’s baby.
The medical examiner who performed the autopsy, Dr. Victor Froloff, testified on Monday that he isn’t sure whether Greywind died from blood loss or strangulation.
The baby, a girl named Haisley Jo, is healthy and being raised by Greywind’s boyfriend.