Jury selection for the trial of a Cottage Grove man accused of murdering his wife began today.
A grand jury indicted Stephen Allwine, 44, in March of first-degree premeditated murder, a charge that carries a mandatory life sentence if convicted.
Allwine was initially charged with second-degree intentional murder in November 2017 for the death of his wife, Amy, in their south Cottage Grove home.
Prosecutors allege Allwine killed her and attempted to stage her death as a suicide after a murder-by-hire plot failed.
Amy Allwine was found in their home with a gunshot wound to the head, police said.
But investigators allege Stephen Allwine made contacts through the Dark Web, a hidden and mostly anonymous portion of the internet associated with criminal activity, as part of a months-long plot to kill his wife.
Allwine's alleged Dark Web activity included an inquiry into purchasing a drug that was found in unusually high concentrations in his wife's body after her death. See complete Story here: Woodbury Bulletin
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