Worst Nightmare – Minnesota Man Wrongfully Imprisoned 25 Years For Wife’s Murder Now Suing

A Minnesota man has been freed after being imprisoned for 25 years for the death of his wife.

The death of Jane Rhodes.

Thomas Rhodes and his wife were on a late evening boat ride on Green Lake in Spicer, Minnesota in 1996. Neither Thomas Rhodes nor his wife Jane were wearing life jackets. Rhodes said his wife lost her balance and fell into the water. He couldn't find her in the dark waters, and the fisherman found her body on the shore the next day.

Officials believed it was a pre-meditated murder.

Former Ramsey County Medical Examiner Michael McGee ruled that the death was a homicide. The County Attorney charged Rhodes with murder, saying it was premeditated.

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Attorney General Keith Ellison launched The Minnesota Conviction Review Unit in 2021. This case was investigated, and a forensic pathologist found that Jane Rhodes' death was "not inconsistent with an accidental fall."

A judge vacated the murder conviction in January of 2023 and then accepted a plea for second-degree manslaughter. Rhodes was sentenced to four years and credited for time served. He was released from prison.

The widower files suit.

Now Rhodes is 64 years old and is suing former Ramsey County Medical Examiner Michael McGee and others seeking unspecified damages, according to the Star Tribune. Rhodes and his attorney say that McGee and Kandiyohi County Attorney Boyd Beccue and a Hennepin County investigator fabricated unsupported conclusions and provided false testimony.

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Other cases are under review.

In related news, Ramsey County Attorney's Office has said it is reviewing more than 70 criminal convictions linked to McGee from his time as the medical examiner from 1985-2019.