Court rejected her insanity plea and setenced her to 25 years

Farmer’s wife Charlene Mess, 49, argued with husband, Douglas Mess, 52, inside a farm barn, hits him several times with a pitchfork, shoots him in the head with a .22-caliber rifle

She ties his hands and feet with bailing wire, drags his body across barn with electric feed cart, scoops it up with another piece of equipment, drives body to the manure pile and buries him

She then saddles her horse and joins 7-hour manhunt for her victim after their son starts looking for him

Faced charges of second-degree murder, criminal use of a firearm, first- and second-degree assault, tampering with evidence following the disappearance and discovery of the body of Douglas Mess

Pled guilty to first degree manslaughter in the death of her husband

Charlene Mess sentenced to 25 years in prison for murdering husband Douglas Mess, she shows no remorse at sentencing

 

Charlene Mess killed her husband and buried him like a farm animal under a pile of manure. The judge struck out her mental incompetence defense. She was given a 25-year sentence

Farmer’s wife, Charlene Mess who killed her husband, an upstate New York dairy farmer,  before burying him in manure has been sentenced to 25 years in prison. Charlene Mess who killed her husband with a pitchfork before burying him in manure  Mess, of Attica, New York, pled guilty to manslaughter in the April 2015 slaying of Douglas Mess, her husband of 30 years.
Farmer’s wife Charlene, 49, who had been married to dairy farmer Douglas for 30 years was arguing with her 52-year-old husband at their farm when she hit him several times with a pitchfork. She then shot him in the head with a .22-caliber rifle inside a barn.

Dairy farmer Douglas Mess, was battered with a pitchfork and shot in the head by his wife of 30 years, Charlene Mess. She then buried him under a pile of manure

According to the District Attorney Donald O’Geen, she tied her husband’s hands and feet with bailing wire. and used an electric feed cart to drag his body to another part of the barn, where she scooped it up with another piece of equipment and drove it to the manure pile.
One of the victim’s sons reported him missing, setting off a seven-hour search that ended when the body was found about 100 yards from the couple’s home.

Charlene carted the slain body ofDouglas Mess across the farmto bury his body under this pile of manure

The family dairy farm and barn where the murder occured

The suspect joined the search for her husband that lasted seven hours. At one point she was on horse back pretending to look for him
Charlene had hoped the body would quickly decompose and never be found, the prosecutor said.She was arrested the next day.  Close friends hinted that the couple had marital problems.
Charlene initially faced charges of second-degree murder, criminal use of a firearm, first- and second-degree assault, tampering with evidence and other charges following the disappearance and discovery of the body of Douglas Mess.
Her defense’s had filed a motion that she was  not mentally competent to stand trial, but Mess ultimately agreed to plead guilty to first degree manslaughter.
Wyoming County, New York, District Attorney Donald O’Green fought the defensemotion that the suspect was not mentally competent for trial said:
“We have been convinced for months that the defendant was faking or maligning her so-called incompetency as a delay tactic to avoid taking responsibility for killing her husband,” but “Once the judge ruled that she was in fact competent she had no more legal maneuvers to avoid taking responsibility.”
The jury convicted Charlene Mess of killing her husband and burying him a pile of manure.  she showed no remorse and declined to speak as she faced her husband’s family as she was sentenced to 25 years in prison and five years of supervised release.  In April, Mess accepted a plea deal of first degree manslaughter in the death of her husband, Doug Mess