Kristi Joy Gardner, 57, was found dead from multiple gunshot wounds in her home in Lake Crystal, Minnesota, on January 9, 2025. Her boyfriend and domestic partner, Gary Mark Rodewald, 64, was linked to the homicide. Rodewald was found unresponsive from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound in his home in New Ulm on January 10, 2025, and died on January 13, 2025. The case is under investigation by the Blue Earth County Sheriff's Office with assistance from the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.
Country: United States
State/Province: Minnesota, United States
City/Region: Lake Crystal
Incident Type: Murder-Suicide
Relationship Status: Live-in relationship
Relationship Duration: Domestic partner
Incident Date: Jan. 9, 2025
Relationship Origins:
Relationship Stages:
Contributing Factors:
Red Flags:
Motives:
Relationship Outcomes:
How the relationship or connection began.
Domestic partner
Important relationship phases recorded for this case.
Reported red flags or early concern points.
Contributing factors and possible motives from the available sources.
2025-01-09
Recorded relationship or case outcome.
English labels are shown first. Original-language titles are preserved for source verification.
Original language: English
Man linked to fatal shooting dies from self-inflicted injury
Domestic Violence
The case involves a domestic violence pattern where a live-in romantic partner allegedly killed the victim by firearm and subsequently died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. The relationship was intimate and involved cohabitation, with escalating conflict leading to fatal violence.
The Blue Earth County Sheriff's Office is investigating with assistance from the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension. The suspect was found with a self-inflicted gunshot wound and died in hospital. The victim was found with multiple gunshot wounds. The suspect was linked to the victim through their domestic partnership. The incident remains under investigation.
No significant confusion reported; suspect identified and deceased from self-inflicted injury, victim confirmed homicide by medical examiner.
On January 9, 2025, Kristi Joy Gardner was found dead from multiple gunshot wounds in her home in Lake Crystal, MN. Law enforcement identified her boyfriend, Gary Mark Rodewald, as connected to the homicide. A search for Rodewald began on January 9 and continued into January 10, when he was found unresponsive from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound in New Ulm, MN. Rodewald was hospitalized and died on January 13. The sequence indicates a murder-suicide event within a domestic partnership.
High risk due to firearm access, escalation of violence, and recent conflict in a domestic partnership.
Domestic violence in live-in relationships can escalate to fatal outcomes, especially when firearms are accessible. Early intervention and monitoring of escalating conflict are critical. The case underscores the importance of coordinated law enforcement response and medical examiner involvement.
The connection between the victim and suspect as domestic partners and the suspicious circumstances of the victim's death were early signals prompting the search for the suspect.
The victim's homicide by multiple gunshot wounds and the suspect's disappearance with firearm access were key clues linking the two events.
Medical examiner's homicide ruling, discovery of the suspect with a self-inflicted gunshot wound, and law enforcement investigation linking the suspect to the victim.
Not reported.
No follow-up reports altering the understanding of the case were available.
Details about the motive and the exact sequence of events leading to the homicide-suicide remain unclear.