Hugo man who was subject of manhunt accused in his mother's death

HUGO, Minn. — A 45-year-old man who was the subject of an overnight manhunt in Hugo earlier this week has been charged in his mother's murder.

Trevor Wunderlich faces a second-degree murder charge in Washington County. He was taken into custody on Tuesday morning after law enforcement searched the rural area for roughly 17 hours.

Charging documents say officers responded to an open 911 line shortly before 6 p.m. on Sept. 16, and that dispatchers could near noises on the phone that were consistent with an ongoing assault.

Officers arrived to the home, on the 15000 block of Ingersoll Avenue, to find 68-year-old Charlene Wunderlich lying on the floor in "obvious distress," charges state. Trevor Wunderlich was sitting in a chair next to her, and though officers tried to detain him, he ran out the back door of the home.

Charlene Wunderlich told officers that her son had assaulted her, documents say. She lost consciousness and died later that evening at the hospital.

Law enforcement locked down the area, and found Trevor Wunderlich at 11 a.m. in a camper on a separate property, about 3 miles away from the home.

The woman who owned the camper told WCCO that her dogs were growling at it, and when she opened the door, she yelled at her son to call 911. The woman's son called police, ran into the camper and told Trevor Wunderlich he had a gun. He then told Trevor Wunderlich to bear hug a tree. He complied, but then he took off down the driveway, where squad cars and K-9 officers were waiting for him.

Trevor Wunderlich remains in custody. A second-degree murder charge carries a maximum sentence of 40 years.

Note: The above video first aired on Sept. 17, 2024, before Trevor Wunderlich was charged.