Criminal charges possible Wednesday in Fort Ripley hit-and-run death

A man is under arrest by the Crow Wing County Sheriff's Office. — Crow Wing County Sheriff's deputies arrest Tony McClelland about 8:30 p.m. Monday, July 10, 2023, for the death of his wife, Angela Marie McClelland.

By Staff reports

July 11, 2023 at 10:20 AM

FORT RIPLEY, Minn. 鈥� The 47-year-old husband of the woman whose body was found on a road June 25 in Fort Ripley Township has been arrested in connection with her death and is expected to be arraigned on criminal charges Wednesday, July 12.

Tony James McClelland. — Tony James McClelland

The Crow Wing County Sheriff鈥檚 Office reported that about 8:30 p.m. Monday, July 10, on probable cause for felony second-degree murder and criminal vehicular homicide in connection with the death of his wife, Angela Marie McClelland, 49.

Tony McClelland was arrested without incident at the Fort Ripley home he shared with Angela McClelland, said Crow Wing County Sheriff Eric Klang.

鈥淗e did appear to be surprised though,鈥� Klang said.

Angela McClelland鈥檚 body was found near the intersection of Legend Road and Killian Road west of Highway 371 after the Sheriff鈥檚 Office received a report at 5:41 a.m. June 25 of a body lying in the roadway.

Investigators from the Crow Wing County Sheriff鈥檚 Office, the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension and the Minnesota State Patrol believed McClelland was a victim of a hit-and-run and began developing leads. They spent the past two weeks following up on interviews and gathering pieces of evidence leading to Tony McClelland鈥檚 arrest, the Sheriff鈥檚 Office reported.

Klang also said his office received several tips from the public, which was helpful.

He declined to discuss the events that led to Angela McClelland鈥檚 death on Tuesday as investigators were still working on preparing information to present to the Crow Wing County Attorney鈥檚 Office.

鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot of integral parts to this investigation, and some of that stuff takes time to get it back from processing,鈥� Klang said. 鈥淲e had multiple people working on it, and we had to bring that together to paint the picture of what happened, what led up to it.鈥�

Tony McClelland is being held in the Crow Wing County Jail pending formal charges from the Crow Wing County Attorney鈥檚 Office. Klang said he expects McClelland to be arraigned Wednesday on the criminal charges.

By Staff reports

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