HomeMy WebLinkAbout2015 12-10 Maplewood murder suspect back in Minnesota, appears in court PIONEER PRESS 12/11/2015 Maplewood murder suspect back in Minnesota,appears in court-TwinCities.com
Maplewood murder suspect back in Minnesota, appears in court
Update�t 1?/16'201511:07:23PMCST TwinCities.com
A Maplewood man suspected of killi ng his wife in August appeared in court for the first time Thursday,and tensions were high.
Larry Todd Tennin,31,is accused of shooting April Tennin in a bathroom of their home early on Aug.23.
Larry Tennin,who also appears in court records as Todd Larry Tennin,was a suspect early in the investigation,based on what children in the home heard before the slaying and what others said
about the couple's rocky relationship,but he remained on the lam for 11 days before his arrest in Waukegan,III.
He was jailed there until he was extradited to Minnesota this week.
W hen he appeared for his Thursday hearing,Tennin wore a dark green vest,known as an anti-suicide vest,used by jail officials because it cannot be torn and used as a hanging device.
As he entered the courtroom from the holding-cel I area,Tennin spotted a young man in the gallery and glared at him.Tennin made remarks clearly directed at the man,despite demands to keep quiet
from police i n the room.M uch of what he said was diff cult to hear,as the attorneys and judge continued to discuss the case,but he could be heard saying,"I'm not going nowhere."
The man in the audience asked Larry Tennin why he was looking at him.Offcers then escorted the man out of the courtroom.
Even after the man was escorted out,Tennin muttered another expletive and appeared agitated.
At least six armed officers were in the courtroom.Tennin was one of four murder suspects on the afternoon calendar.
W hen decorum resumed,Ramsey County DisUict Judge Joy Bartscher set Tennin's bail at$2 million and approved six no-contact orders that the prosecution had requested for April Tennin's kids
and other witnesses in the case,some of whom"are children who have already been threatened by the defendant."
Tennin applied for and was appointed a public defender.
Tennin's next court appearance will be Jan.7.
According to the criminal complaint,Tennin and his wife had been arguing before she was shot and the kids who were home at the time heard April Tennin,41,begging for her life.The medical
examiner determined April Tennin died from a single gunshot wound through the mouth,and her body slw�rved signs of being battered before she was shot.
The couple was married in January 2014 at the Stillwater prison,where he was serving time on a weapons charge.
Not long after Todd Tennin's May 2014 release from prison,he began to physically abuse his wife,frierxJs and co-workers told police.
April Tennin told friends she feared her husband would kill her and said he had put a gun in her mouth once befae.
Her boss said she would call 911 if April Tennin came to work with black eyes again,court recads show.
Her children told police about the physical and verbal atwse she suffered at home at the hands of Todd Tennin and the threats he had made to them.
Todd Tennin was also known to brandish guns in the house and in front of the children,despite being ineligible to possess one,the criminal complaint said.
April Tennin's three school-age children lived with her in her Maplewood home,in the 1700 block of Woodland Lane.Her 12-year-dd son and 1Cryear-dd daughter were home at the time of her
death,along with the daugMer's 1�ryear-dd boyfriend;Tennin's 7-year-dd daughter was staying with a family friend for the weekend.Tennin also had an adult son.
Todd Tennin was nol the father of her children,tFaugh a few months before her murder,April Tennin legally changed her three youngesYs last names to his.
April Tennin had filed for bankruptcy protection less than a month before her death.
She was a longtime Ramsey Counly employee.
Elizabeth Mohr can be reached at 651-22&5162.Follow her at twitter.com/l.izMohr.