Valen gets 20-40 years in prison for wife's murder

Wednesday, November 23, 2005
Jon Valen, 35, right, was sentenced to 40 years in prison, 20 fixed, for murdering his wife, Jodi, 37, in March of this year.

Jon B. Valen, 35, was sentenced to 40 years in prison last week by Fourth District Judge Mike McLaughlin for the March 4 murder of his wife, Jodi Lynn Valen.

After hearing members of Jodi Lynn's family testify to the trauma they had undergone, and telling Valen that they hoped he "burned in hell" for the murder, at the conclusion of the sentencing hearing Valen turned and facing them, offered his apologies to the family, saying, "I did love my wife. I hope time will ease your grief."

Last month Valen had entered a plea of guilty to a charge of second-degree murder in the death of his wife of only three months, whose burned and mutilated body was found in the bathtub of their home when firemen responded to a March 5 call of a house on fire at the Valen home.

During testimony at the sentencing hearing last Wednesday, it was revealed that Valen had killed his wife apparently in a fit of rage over statements she allegedly made that she wanted to leave him and return to her former boyfriend.

Valen, who collected knives and swords, apparently used a sword to stab her 103 times, not the knife found on her body in the bathtub of their home at at 114 E. 8th North St. He also killed the two family dogs by the same means.

It was the first time it was publically acknowleged that Jodi Lynn had been killed the day before the fire, and the first time the exact cause of death had been revealed.

Valen apparently spent that night at the house, then visited with friends the next day, attempted to obtain drugs from some of them, got drunk, and then returned to the home where he set her body on fire in the bathtub and then set four other fires in the house. He was found standing in the smoke-filled living room by firemen who had been forced to break down the home's locked doors to enter the house.

Valen's plea last month had been made without any conditions, although arson and cruelty to animals charges were dropped by the prosecutor. There were no sentencing agreements made as part of the plea, which eliminated the need for a lengthy and costly murder trial.

McLaughlin's sentence of 40 years included 20 years fixed, meaning he must serve a minimum of 20 years before he would be considered eligible for parole. The penalty for second-degree murder ranges from ten years in prison to life. The incident did not meet the legal criteria for first-degree murder.

In sentencing Valen following a full day of testimony, McLaughlin noted that "this is a very difficult decision. To say that this is a tragic event is an understatement when you look at the circumstances of this homicide."

After hearing testimony during the day from Valen's family and psychiatrists, McLaughlin said he did not believe Valen was either psychotic or homicidal, but "we have lingering anger issues, and alcohol and drug issues, that may not be resolved."

It was, he said, "a brutal crime," that cut short the life of a young woman and prevented her from being a mother to her children. Jodi Valen, 37 at the time of her death, had three children, one of whom will be graduating this spring. They had been living with her ex-husband during her three-month marriage to Jon Valen.

"You suffer from impulsivity," McLaughlin told Valen, that leads to making bad decisions.

"This was a crime of passion," the judge said, "but nothing justifies this violence."

At the same time, he left open the possibility that at some time in the future Valen's problems might be resolved and he would be able to return to society, by not imposing a life sentence. "At age 55, this gives you the possibility of parole," McLaughlin said.

He also ordered Valen to pay restitution for the insurance deductible to the owner of the home he and his wife had been renting, to pay for the costs of the firefighting, and to pay for the costs of the funeral. He gave credit to Valen for 257 days of time already served in the Elmore County Jail.

Although both the prosecution and defence shied away from revealing some of the gorier details of the crime, the members of Jodi Lynn's family who took the stand to provide victim impact statements didn't hesitate to repeat sections of Valen's statements to the presentence investigators.

Clearly angry at Valen, they urged the judge to sentence him to life without parole.

"Remember our faces," Jodi's mother, Chyrl Grondahl said, "because if you ever come up for parole we will be there."

"Judgement day will come for you Jon," Jodi's sister-in-law, Heather Tillitt said, "and you will burn in hell."

Prosecutor Kristina Schindele, who asked for a fixed term of life, told the judge that "domestic violence will not be condoned," and noted that besides killing his wife, Valen had put firemen and, if the fire had spread, potentially neighbors at risk as well.

Defense attorney Ed Frachiseaur called psychiatrist Dr. Craig Beaver and Valen's parents, Ralph and Janet Valen of Saratoga Springs, N.Y., to the stand to paint a picture of Valen as basically a normal youth, although one who had had some problems socializing due to stuttering at a young age.

He had had some difficulties in school, doing well in classes he enjoyed and poorly in ones he did not like. After dropping out of college he had joined the Air Force and had had a relatively distinguished career until returning from Kosovo a few years ago. The service in that combat zone had troubled him deeply and he began having problems in the service, receiving a series of reprimands and eventually being reduced in rank to Senior Airman.

He had had only one significant romantic relationship, during a tour in Italy, before he met Jodi Lynn.

His parents described how surprised they were when he announced, after only a few months of dating, that he was in love with her and they were going to get married. They had urged the couple to wait a little bit before taking the step. They described how he told them how much he loved his wife, and said in phone conversations that they had had with Jodi that she also seemed happy in the marriage.

Frachiseaur, in his closing arguments, noted that "there is not a shred of evidence before you that there was an abusive relationship prior to the crime."

It was simply, he said, a product of "an utter, horrific rage, unfathonable," triggered by Jodi Lynn apparently telling Jon that she wanted him to help pay for bail for her former boyfriend, who was in jail at the time, that she loved her former boyfriend and wanted to leave Jon for him.

He urged the judge to "give this man a future opportunity to have a productive life."

At the conclusion of the sentencing both sets of family members turned among their own group and cried and hugged each other in separate sorrows.

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