Fort Ripley Man Sentenced to 4 Years for Criminal Vehicular Homicide in Wife’s Death

Tony McClelland (Credit: Crow Wing County Sheriff’s Office)

A Fort Ripley man has been sentenced for criminal vehicular homicide in connection with the June 2023 death of his wife.

48-year-old Tony McClelland was sentenced last Friday in Crow Wing County Court to four years in prison with credit for 18 days served.

McClelland pleaded guilty to criminal vehicular homicide in February. He was also charged with second-degree murder, first-degree manslaughter, and another count of criminal vehicular homicide for leaving the scene of a collision. Those charges were dismissed when McClelland entered the guilty plea to the other criminal vehicular homicide charge.

McClelland’s wife, Angela McClelland, was found dead on a frontage road south of Brainerd in Fort Ripley Township on June 25 of last year. Tony McClelland told investigators that he and Angela had gotten into an argument after leaving a party, and he said he was pretty drunk and didn’t remember much after that.

Forensic evidence later placed him at the scene of where Angela was found and showed his vehicle reversing at speeds of up to 20 mph to where Angela’s body was located. The vehicle stopped and sped away at speeds of over 100 mph. Blood on the vehicle also matched that of Angela.