Man pleads guilty to fatally shooting wife, nearly hitting Chisago County deputy with gunfire

A 40-year-old man has admitted to fatally shooting his wife as law enforcement converged on her home in Chisago County.

Mike L. Carda of Harris, Minn., agreed Friday in District Court to plead guilty to second-degree murder and second-degree attempted murder in connection with the death on Oct. 6, 2023, of 35-year-old Sarah Carda, who worked as a nurse at the jail in neighboring Isanti County.

Also Friday, Carda told the court he intends to make his admission under what is known as an Alford plea, meaning he maintains his innocence but acknowledges there is ample evidence to convict him.

The plea agreement calls for Carda to be sentenced to a term of 34½ years. With credit for time in jail since his arrest, Carda is expected to serve the first 22¼ years in prison and the balance on supervised release. In the meantime, Carda remains jailed ahead of sentencing, which is scheduled for Jan. 22.

Sarah Carda worked in nursing for more than 15 years, Melissa Stockness wrote on an online fundraising page started to help the family with expenses related to her sister’s death.

According to the charges:

A sheriff’s deputy responding to a report of a domestic incident arrived at the Fish Lake Township home and could hear arguing from inside. Emergency dispatch alerted the deputy to “a large number” of weapons inside the home.

The deputy knocked on the door twice and a window once while announcing, “Sheriff’s Office.” He found the door to the home was locked.

After rapping on the window, a woman was heard saying, “He has a gun,” followed by gunshots in a bedroom. The deputy backed away from the window; three more rounds came through the window at the level of the deputy’s head as he stood 2 feet away.

SWAT team members soon arrived, and a window was removed from the home, allowing a drone to be flown in. Its camera revealed Sarah Carda dead on the bed from a gunshot to the head. Mike Carda was in the bedroom. Two long guns were on the floor near the bed.

After numerous pleas to surrender, a police dog assisted in removing Carda from the bedroom.

At the time of his arrest, Mike Carda was the subject of a no-contact order involving Sarah Carda. He also had a pending case in Chisago County alleging interference with a 911 call and misdemeanor domestic assault stemming from an incident in July 2023, when he allegedly threw her to the ground and at one point pinned her against the wall with his hands around her throat.

A deputy arrived at the home, where Mike Carda said his wife and her parents were in groups trying to kill him, the charges from the summer encounter read. Carda said they were using biological weapons, aircraft and electrical weapons from a tower, the charges continued. As part of his case, Carda was ordered to undergo a mental health evaluation.