North Dakota

North Dakota Supreme Court affirms West Fargo man’s murder conviction

Published

3 months ago

October 10, 2025

North Dakota Supreme Court affirms West Fargo man’s murder conviction

BISMARCK — The North Dakota Supreme Court has upheld a West Fargo man’s murder conviction.

In a ruling issued Thursday, Oct. 9, the Supreme Court said Spencer Moen’s constitutional right to confront witnesses was not violated by a district court judge’s decision to allow two of Moen’s children to testify at his trial for the August 2023 murder of his wife, Sonja Moen.

Sonja Moen.

Contributed photo

In October 2024, a Cass County District Court

jury found Spencer Moen guilty

of murder for beating his wife and leaving her in a bathtub to die.

During his murder trial, two of his children, who were 5 years old and at home when their mother died, were called by the prosecution to testify.

Their testimony was provided via video from outside the courtroom after two psychologists testified that the children would likely be retraumatized if they testified in front of their father.

Following his conviction,

Spencer Moen was sentenced on Dec. 30

to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

appealed his conviction to the Supreme Court,

claiming his constitutional rights were violated by not having his children testify in person during his murder trial.

In oral arguments before the state Supreme Court in September, Moen’s appellate attorney, Sam Gereszek, said the district court judge should not have relied on the psychologists’ testimonies to determine if the children would be traumatized by testifying in front of their father. Instead, Gereszek said, the judge should have questioned the children directly.

In the unanimous ruling issued Thursday, the Supreme Court said that while the right to confront witnesses is of a constitutional magnitude, it is not absolute, and in appropriate cases it may give way to other legitimate interests.

The ruling also stated North Dakota Century Code permits a trial judge to allow remote electronic testimony by children if testifying in front of a defendant would traumatize a child and affect the child’s ability to communicate.

“The (district) court specifically found remote testimony was necessary because Moen’s presence in court would re-traumatize the children and impact their ability to reasonably communicate — specifically that the children ’could likely shut down, cry uncontrollably,’ ’’ the Supreme Court said in its ruling.

The high court stated specifically that the district court’s decision to allow remote testimony complied with state law and that Moen had not established that his constitutional right to confront witnesses was violated.

Dave Olson is a reporter, photographer and occasional videographer. He graduated from Minnesota State University Moorhead with a degree in mass communications, and during his time at The Forum he has covered many beats, from cops and courts to business and education. Currently is writing business stories, but jumps on daily news as needed. He’s also written about UFOs, ghosts, dinosaur bones and the dwarf planet Pluto. You may reach Dave at 701-241-5555, or by email at dolson@forumcomm.com.

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North Dakota

Hoeven, Armstrong, Traynor speak on OBBB Rural Health Transformation Fund updates in ND

Published

9 hours ago

January 10, 2026

Press Room

Hoeven, Armstrong, Traynor speak on OBBB Rural Health Transformation Fund updates in ND

BISMARCK, N.D. (KFYR) – On Friday, North Dakota U.S. Senator John Hoeven, Governor Kelly Armstrong and Health and Human Services Commissioner Pat Traynor explained how the state plans to use millions of dollars from the Big Beautiful Bill’s Rural Health Transformation Fund to transform healthcare across the state.

They spoke extensively about the special session to allocate the funds, and confirmed that it is still tentatively set for Jan. 21.

The Big Beautiful Bill allocated $25 billion for rural healthcare nationwide. North Dakota received $500 million for five years and $200 million for the first year. There is still another $25 billion left to be spent, and North Dakota is hoping to receive an extra $500 million.

“I truly believe that with the plan we’re putting in place and the things we built that line up with that, we’ll get a billion dollars over five years,” said Hoeven.

Federal rules require the state to lock in contracts for the money by October first— a deadline officials say is driving the need for a special session.

In the first year, North Dakota will focus on retention grants to keep existing staff, technical assistance and consultants for rural hospitals, as well as telehealth equipment and home patient monitoring.

A KFYR+ exclusive

Governor Armstrong says the special session will include policy bills tied to how much federal rural health funding the state can earn.

“We’re going to have a physical fitness test for physical education courses, nutrition education, continuing education requirement for physicians, physician assistant licensure compact—which North Dakota has been doing, dealing with that since the heart of the oil boom and moving forward—and then an expanded scope of practice for pharmacists,” said Armstrong.

Hundreds of millions of dollars could reshape healthcare in rural North Dakota, and state leaders say the next few weeks are key to receiving and spending that money wisely.

The governor says he only wants to focus on bills related to the Rural Health Transformation Program during the special session and doesn’t intend to deal with other state issues during that time.

Politicians outline plans for ND Rural Health Transformation Program

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North Dakota

North Dakota officials celebrate being among big winners in federal rural health funding

Published

21 hours ago

January 9, 2026

Press Room

North Dakota officials celebrate being among big winners in federal rural health funding

North Dakota U.S. Sen. John Hoeven and Gov. Kelly Armstrong on Friday touted the success of the state’s application for federal Rural Health Transformation Program funding, which landed one of the largest per-capita awards in the nation.

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North Dakota

Tony Osburn’s 27 helps Omaha knock off North Dakota 90-79

Published

1 day ago

January 9, 2026

Press Room

Tony Osburn’s 27 helps Omaha knock off North Dakota 90-79

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Tony Osburn scored 27 points as Omaha beat North Dakota 90-79 on Thursday.

Osburn shot 8 of 12 from the field, including 5 for 8 from 3-point range, and went 6 for 9 from the line for the Mavericks (8-10, 1-2 Summit League). Paul Djobet scored 18 points and added 12 rebounds. Ja’Sean Glover finished with 10 points.

The Fightin’ Hawks (8-11, 2-1) were led by Eli King, who posted 21 points and two steals. Greyson Uelmen added 19 points for North Dakota. Garrett Anderson had 15 points and two steals.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.

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