Shakopee Reporter's Murder Brings 20-Year Sentence

On Wednesday, a Scott County judge sentenced Charles “Tony” Maddox to 20 years in prison and another 10 years on supervised release for the murder of his wife, then-Shakopee Valley News reporter Ruth Anne Maddox. 

Ruth Anne Maddox, 45, was slain in her Prior Lake home on Nov. 11, 2008. In June, Tony Maddox, 48, was convicted of second-degree murder. Investigators believe he crushed her neck with a door following an arugment on Nov. 11, 2008. She died from blunt force injuries to her head and neck, reported the Shakopee Valley News. 

After killing his estranged wife, Tony Maddox “dressed in her clothing and a wig and drove her car to the airport, hoping to make it look as if she’s left town,” the Star Tribune reported. 

The next morning, Prior Lake police found Ruth Anne Maddox's body in the garage as Tony Maddox was preparing to dispose of it. 

"You have no idea what it was like for me to hear the news that Ruth Anne had been murdered by you," the victim's sister, Karen Whitaker, said to Tony Maddox during a victim impact statement at the sentencing in Shakopee, as reported by the Star Tribune. 

"My world came to a screeching halt," she said.

Ruth Anne had filed for divorce and the couple was fighting over who would take their two dogs. 

When the reporter didn’t show up for work, police went to her home to question Tony Maddox. Police soon drafted a search warrant and found her body in the garage at on Nov. 12, 2008.  Tony Maddox claimed the killing was in self-defense. 

"He denies wrongdoing," the mother said in the Star Tribune report. "It was 'her fault' that he beat her so cruelly and then treated her body like a piece of trash. Tony has never shown any remorse for Ruth Anne. His only remorse is for poor Tony.”