The Murder of Angila Wilder

The Murder of Angila Wilder

We see it every day in true crimes. A person is murdered and their current, or former spouse is found to be responsible. They are always the first person looked at for the crime. It is not unusual for a new spouse or significant other to given the person an alibi that either later would be proven to be false, or that they retract after the relationship sours. What is less common, although not unheard of, is that the new spouse or boy(or girl)friend helped in the commission of the murder. Of course they too are often looked at as the perpetrator initially but it just seems too easy for a new spouse to claim innocence in the crime. Investigators may have their suspicions, but suspicions cannot make a case beyond reasonable doubt. It seems that most prosecutors are simply happy getting the ex-spouse and closing the case rather than dig anymore into the case.

Cynthia Wilder, could have been one of those people if she had not had a conversation with an old boyfriend who just so happened to be working with authorities. Until the ex-boyfriend went to authorities with his own suspicions and claims Cynthia Wilder could have gone on being a kindergarten teacher and raising not just her child but the children her husband had shared with his victim.

On November 13, 2015 Angila Wilder was found stabbed to death in her Minot North Dakota home. Angila lived in the home with her boyfriend, Chris Jackson, her two children with her ex husband, Richie Wilder Jr, and her own two year old son. Angila was also pregnant with her fourth child. Authorities would determine that she had been stabbed more than forty times while her two year old was in the home with her. Angila had fought for her life and had scratched her attacker.

I should note that while the two older children belonging to Angila, who were four and ten at the time of her death did belong to Richie Wilder, there were some indications that it was possible that her two year old son was also the son of Wilder. Her mother was later quoted after Richie Wilder was convicted in 2016 that she had three grandchildren who had lost both their parents.

Of course Richie Wilder was questioned after the murder of his ex-wife. It seemed apparent that the couple did not have an amicable relationship. It was alleged that the day before her murder Angila had sent him a newspaper article about being a narcissist father. It seems that Richie had claimed to not be involved and his wife, Cynthia vouched for him. What is not clear is at what point Richie's story began to change but I suspect that it occurred after DNA results came back showing that the skin found under Angila's fingernails came back to Richie.

First there was the story that he was not at the scene. Then he claimed that he was there but that he had made a deal with Angila's boyfriend, Chris Jackson and that it was Jackson who had actually murdered her. Later his defense would claim that he was set up for the murder although just who he believed set him up was not made clear, at least not to me. Investigators would obtain surveillance video proving that Chris Jackson was at work at the time in which the murder occurred. Richie Wilder Jr. was arrested in December of 2015. In August of 2016 he would make plans with his wife to escape from the jail although the attempt would fail. In December of 2016, after one hour of deliberations a jury would find him guilty in the first degree murder of his ex-wife. In May of 2017 he was given a sentence of life without the possibility of parole. It was also ruled by the judge that he was never to have contact with the children he had shared with Angila.

After his conviction his wife, Cynthia, who was now raising not just the child she had with Richie, but the children he shared with Angila was quoted as saying, “He's a good man. He's a good husband. He would never do anything that would hurt his kids. I stand by him.” This statement would come back to bite her later.

It does not seem that Cynthia would attempt to be lonely for very long. Authorities were also already looking into her for helping plan the jail escape. It was said that she had agreed to get him a car, some clothes and a cell phone and that the escape, while thwarted, was very well planned out. Then she reached out to an ex-boyfriend first through the Internet. It was not clear what it was she stated to the ex-boyfriend that put him on alert as to her behavior but he contacted the police department and at that point began working with them as a confidential informant.

Cynthia and the ex-boyfriend went out for dinner one evening. The ex-boyfriend was engaged to another woman but it is not clear as to whether he had made this known for sure to Cynthia. After they had dinner they had gone back to Cynthia's home where they sat in the driveway in his vehicle for quite some time. The conversation was being recorded by law enforcement. Seemingly out of no where not only did Cynthia begin talking about the crime her husband had been convicted for, she began talking about the role she played. Angila's blood had been found in Cynthia's vehicle by investigators and had been used against Richie in his trial. Cynthia began saying that she had “staked” out Angila's home for Richie in order to get an idea of the schedule of things going on at the home. She also admitted to the man that she had helped Richie clean up not just himself but the vehicle that he had used.

In June of 2017 the former teacher was arrested and charged with conspiracy to commit murder. By November of that year she apparently saw no point in going to trial and decided to enter an Alford Plea. We have all heard about these sorts of pleas. They are the ones in which the defendant states they are not pleading guilty to the crime but admit that the state has enough evidence to reasonably obtain a conviction. In those cases the sentencing is left up to a judge. In my opinion this was a very bad move for Cynthia and I am sure in hindsight she would agree. It appears that if she had come to some sort of plea agreement with the state then she would have been better off. In May of 2018 Cynthia entered court for her sentencing. It is not clear what sentence the defense was asking the judge to render but the state was recommending a sentence of twenty-five years with five suspended. To everyone's surprise the judge gave her the same sentence as her husband, maximum allowed.... life without the possibility of parole.

The judge would state that part of the reason for the maximum sentence was her statement to the media after his conviction in December of 2016. You know the one, the one I stated earlier would come back and bite her. The judge felt she had obviously stood there and blatantly lied considering the fact she knew her husband was guilty. The judge also stated that she could not overlook the fact that there had been significant planning involved in the murder as well as the cover up and that she had been a key figure in that. For her part Cynthia had argued that she had exaggerate and lied to the ex-boyfriend but it seems apparent that the judge did not buy that.

In June of 2018 it was stated that Cynthia was appealing her sentence. Her husband, Richie Wilder had also appealed his conviction and sentence in April of 2018. The appeals court affirmed however, they did make one adjustment, although it seemingly came from the original judge. They had ruled that Richie was not allowed to ever have contact with the children that he shared with Angila. The courts decided to change that ruling and only forbid contact while the children were minors, saying that once they reached adulthood it would be left for them to decide if they wanted contact with their father.

Angila's children went to live with her mother after Cynthia's conviction. The child shared by Richie and Cynthia is now living with Richie's father.

It appears that the Department of Corrections in North Dakota only runs through a paid system to find information on inmates.  I was unable to determine any information on either Richie or Cynthia.