Helen Ulvinen was convicted of first-degree murder pursuant to Minn. Stat. § 609.05, subd. 1 (1980), which imposes criminal liability on one who “intentionally aids, advises, hires, counsels, or conspires with or otherwise procures” another to commit a crime. The Minnesota Supreme Court reversed. OTIS, J.

Carol Hoffman, Helen Ulvinen’s (appellant’s) daughter-in-law, was murdered late on the evening of August 10 or the very early morning of August 11 by her husband, David Hoffman. She and David had spent an amicable evening together playing with their children, and when they went to bed David wanted to make love to his wife.

When she refused him he lost his temper and began choking her. While he was choking her, he began to believe he was “doing the right thing” and that to get “the evil out of her” he had to dismember her body. After his wife was dead, David called down to the basement to wake his mother, asking her to come upstairs to sit on the living room couch. From there she would be able to see the kitchen, bathroom, and bedroom doors and could stop the older child if she awoke and tried to use the bathroom. 

Mrs. Ulvinen didn’t respond at first but after being called once, possibly twice more, she came upstairs to lie on the couch. In the meantime, David had moved the body to the bathtub. Mrs. Ulvinen was aware that while she was in the living room her son was dismembering the body but she turned her head away so that she could not see.

After dismembering the body and putting it in bags, Hoffman cleaned the bathroom, took the body to Weaver Lake, and disposed of it. On returning home, he told his mother to wash the cloth covers from the bathroom toilet and tank, which she did. David fabricated a story about Carol leaving the house the previous night after an argument, and Helen agreed to corroborate it. David phoned the police with a missing person report, and during the ensuing searches and interviews with the police, he and his mother continued to tell the fabricated story On August 19, 1980, David confessed to the police that he had murdered his wife. In his statement, he indicated that not only had his mother helped him cover up the crime but she had known of his intent to kill his wife that night. After hearing Hoffman’s statement the police arrested Mrs. Ulvinen and questioned her with respect to her part in the cover up [sic]. Police typed up a two-page statement, which she read and signed. The following day a detective questioned her further regarding events surrounding the crime, including her knowledge that it was planned. 

Mrs. Ulvinen’s relationship with her daughter-in-law had been a strained one. She moved in with the Hoffmans on July 26, two weeks earlier to act as a live-in babysitter for their two children. Carol was unhappy about having her move in and told friends that she hated Helen, but she told both David and his mother that they could try the arrangement to see how it worked. 

On the morning of the murder, Helen told her son that she was going to move out of the Hoffman residence because “Carol had been so nasty to me.” In his statement to the police, David reported the conversation that morning as follows: 

QUESTIONS 

1. List all the facts (including words) surrounding Mrs. Ulvinen’s behavior before or during the murder that might make her an accomplice. 

2. List all the facts after the murder that a jury could infer proved Mrs. Ulvinen participated before or during the murder itself. 

3. According to the Court, why isn’t Mrs. Ulvinen guilty of murder? 

4. Do you agree with the Court that however morally reprehensible her behavior, she nonetheless was not an accomplice? Defend your answer.