Eric James Reinbold (Pennington County Sheriff’s Office)
A judge in Minnesota handed down the maximum possible sentence to a 46-year-old man who killed his wife, stabbing her more than 20 times and leaving her to be found by one of their children.
Pennington County District Court Judge Tamara Lynn Yon on Wednesday ordered Eric James Reinbold to serve 40 years in prison for the murder of 34-year-old Lissette Reinbold, court documents reviewed by Law&Crime show.
A jury in September found Reinbold guilty of second-degree intentional murder in Lissette’s slaying. He is also required to pay a fine of $8,925 and provide law enforcement with a DNA sample.
Lissette Reinbold’s body was found July 9, 2021 at a home in the 10000 block of 340th Ave SE. First responders encountered a young boy on a bike who found his mother on the ground near a vehicle. She had at least 27 stab wounds, an autopsy found.
Police said Reinbold had been staying in a camper about a half-mile down the road. Police found three of the couple’s children in the camper, but could not find Reinbold. Several of the children told investigators that Reinbold was gone when they woke up early that morning, police said.
Another child told investigators their mother had been crying the night before because Reinbold thought Lissette “was cheating on him and that made him mad.”
Text messages obtained between Reinbold and Lissette in the weeks before her death showed Reinbold “accusing Lissette of being unfaithful, demanding sex from her, and fighting over finances.”
A day before Lissette’s body was discovered, Reinbold again questioned her faithfulness, which she said was “all in his head.”
“I am getting worked up because you appear to be lying to me in various ways,” he wrote, then continued to pressure her into sex, including “claiming ownership over a part of [Lissette’s] body,” investigators wrote.
During that exchange, Lissette also wrote, “I’ve been waiting to hear why u kicked me punched me and choked me.”
Reinbold then said he was coming to the house to bring two of the children back to the camper with him, which is how the conversation between the two ended.
Investigators also noted that Reinbold was under federal supervision after he was convicted of possessing an unregistered destructive device for stashing pipe bombs at his home. He was also arrested in 2015 following a “domestic situation.” In both instances, Reinbold was taken into custody after attempting to evade law enforcement.
An arrest warrant for Reinbold was issued but authorities were unable to apprehend him for 26 days. He was reportedly spotted in the woods on a trail camera near his parents’ home.
According to a report from the Detroit Lake Tribune, Reinbold’s attorney on Wednesday asked the court to sentence his client to 26 months in prison, arguing that it would cost taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars less than keeping him incarcerated for 40 years.
In a written victim impact statement, Elvia Juarez, Lissette’s mother, addressed Reinbold, saying her grandchildren now sleep in bed with her because “they fear you will come and hurt them.”
“I hope you rot in hell,” she wrote, according to the Detroit Lakes Tribune.
Read the court documents below.