UPDATE: Watertown native now charged with murder in wife’s death

August 14, 2023
Mike Tanner

WEST FARGO, N.D.–A Watertown High School graduate has now been charged with murder in the death of his wife.

Thirty one year-old Spencer Jay Moen was arrested at the couple’s home on Eaglewood Avenue West in West Fargo, North Dakota last Thursday morning.

Charging documents obtained by KWAT News indicate Moen called police to report his 30 year-old wife Sonja was lying in the bathtub, was unresponsive, and not breathing.

Officers arrived to find Sonja Moen on her back, fully clothed in the bathtub. She had significant bruising on the left side of her face and forehead, both eyes appeared to be swollen shut, and there was dried blood on the right corner of her mouth. She also had bruising on her hands, which were indicative of defensive wounds.

Officers located blood on the master bedroom floor, blood droplets on the bed, and on the foot of the bed going to the bathroom.

Spencer Moen told police both he and Sonja were intoxicated when they got home from the Mapleton, North Dakota golf course the night before he called police. He told investigators Sonja tripped coming up the steps from the garage into the house, and, “face planted.”

He said they later fought, telling police he punched Sonja in the face with a closed fist three or four times because she had been punching him.

An autopsy on Sonja Moen, who was also a Watertown native, indicated she sustained a subdural hematoma, and died from blunt force trauma to her head. She also had at least one fractured rib.

The Medical Examiner’s Office in Grand Forks determined her death was consistent with homicide, and Spencer Moen was subsequently arrested.

He’s charged with one count of Murder, and one count of Contributing to the Deprivation or Delinquency of a Minor. He has a prior criminal record that includes a guilty plea to Simple Assault and Disorderly Conduct.

Sonja’s family has set up a GoFundMe page that can be found by clicking here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/supporting-the-family-of-sonja-moen