Son captured, accused of killing mother in Hugo and then eluding arrest during attack

Law enforcement captured a man Tuesday who allegedly was seen by sheriff’s deputies the day before fatally attacking his 68-year-old mother in their home in Hugo but eluded arrest at the scene.

Shortly before 6 p.m. Monday, Washington County sheriff’s deputies and emergency medical personnel responded to an “open line” 911 call at a home in the 15900 block of N. Ingersoll Avenue that revealed a woman moaning and a man shouting, a Sheriff’s Office statement read.

Deputies entered the home and saw 45-year-old Trevor Joseph Wunderlich leaning over his mother, Charlene G. Wunderlich, who appeared to be badly bruised and groaning in pain, the statement continued.

The deputies attempted to subdue the son with a Taser, “but he broke free and fled from the residence,” the statement read.

Charlene Wunderlich was taken by ambulance to a hospital where she was pronounced dead. Specifics about her injuries have yet to be released.

The Sheriff’s Office announced the arrest of Trevor Wunderlich late Tuesday morning but offered no details about where he was found. Charges are pending. The Minnesota Star Tribune initially identified him as a suspect in his mother’s death while he was being sought by the Sheriff’s Office.

A manhunt continued through the night until a resident of Hugo in the 9800 block of N. 152nd Street called 911 after noticing a man in the backyard who matched the description released by the Sheriff’s Office, the statement read. Deputies arrived at the home, about 4½ miles from the scene of the killing, and arrested Trevor Wunderlich without resistance.

Charlene Wunderlich petitioned a judge in 2020 for an order for protection from her son. In it, she alleged that he routinely tormented her for three years up to that point in November 2020. Charlene Wunderlich’s husband, 64-year-old William Wunderlich, died in 2020 from natural causes.

“He throws things at me, calls me terrible names saying he wishes I would die and breaks everything in the house,” the petition read. “It just keeps escalating.”

Court records show that Trevor Wunderlich has a long and violent criminal history that spans his entire adult life. He’s been convicted three times for assault, two of them for injuring corrections officers in the Washington County jail.

He also has three convictions for violating domestic abuse no contact orders, two for weapons possession offenses, and one each for terroristic threats, disorderly conduct and drunken driving.