Second murder trial in Greywind case begins Tuesday

William Henry Hoehn appears Dec. 6, 2017
William Henry Hoehn appears Wednesday, Dec. 6, 2017, in East Central District Court, Fargo, with his attorney Daniel James Borgen for conspiracy to commit murder in the killing of Savanna LaFontaine-Greywind.
Michael Vosburg | Forum Communications Co.

The murder case against the second person accused in the death of Savanna Greywind begins Tuesday in Fargo.

William Hoehn faces charges of conspiracy to commit murder in the 22-year-old's August 2017 death. He has already pleaded guilty to charges of kidnapping and providing false information to investigators. His former girlfriend, Brooke Crews, pleaded guilty in December to the same three charges.

Greywind's family reported her missing in August 2017, when she did not return after visiting another apartment in the building where she lived.

She was eight months pregnant at the time.

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Five days later, police found a healthy baby girl in the neighboring apartment and arrested the occupants, Crews, 38, and Hoehn, 32. Fargo Police chief David Todd said Greywind had been the victim of a "cruel, vicious act of depravity."

Three days after that, kayakers found Greywind's body, wrapped in plastic, in the Red River just north of Fargo.

Last December, Crews pleaded guilty to all charges. Prosecutors said Crews had lured Greywind to her apartment, knocked her unconscious and cut her unborn baby from her.

In February, she was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

"I'm just really, really, really sorry. I wish I could take their pain. I wish I hadn't done this," Crews told the court. "There is no excuse, there is no rationalization, there is nothing. I am guilty."

Greywind's mother, Norberta, also addressed the court. "The nightmares are horrific. I dream that I am still looking for my daughter," she said. "I cannot accept that someone could have done this to her. I think about the pain she went through and how scared she was."