DULUTH, Minnesota — The man who was convicted in 1981 of dismembering his wife and dumping her remains in a Maple Grove lake is a free man, under supervised release in Duluth.David Francis Hoffman first reported his 26-year-old wife missing on Aug. 10, 1980, claiming her purse was found on a nearby rural road. Just nine days later, he admitted to authorities that Carol Hoffman was dead, and that he killed her in their Corcoran home — about 20 miles northwest of Minneapolis — while their two children slept.

ADVERTISEMENT

David Hoffman was convicted in 1981 after he confessed to strangling his wife and cutting her up in her home while their two children slept. He dumped her remains in nearby Weaver Lake. Image courtesy of Newspapers.com/Original source: 1981 edition of the Minnesota Star

He directed authorities to Weaver Lake in Maple Grove, where he said they would find her dismembered remains inside at least two separate bags.David Hoffman joined law enforcement for the search, according to appellate court documents.He wasn’t lying. Carol Hoffman’s remains were found submerged in nearly 30 feet of water.

A Google Maps hows the distance David Hoffman drove his wife’s dismembered remains from their home in Corcoran to Maple Grove’s Weaver Lake, where he dumped the remnants of her body. Image source: Google Maps

David Hoffman was charged with first-degree murder, yet pleaded not guilty under the defense of insanity. The argument didn’t work. He was convicted and sentenced to life in prison.His mother, who was allegedly home at the time of the murder, was charged and convicted of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, based on her son’s confession. Her conviction was later overturned by the Minnesota Supreme Court. Despite David Hoffman’s life sentence, he was released on parole in 2017. Now 79, he resides in Duluth, according to a Forum News Service background check.

ADVERTISEMENT

He remains under supervision with Arrowhead Regional Corrections.

A nightmare unfolds

David Hoffman strangled his wife to death before he attempted to feed her remains into their garbage disposal, according to The Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office.When that didn’t work, he reverted to another plan: Cutting her up and placing her remains in a duffel bag and a gunny sack.David Hoffman’s initial confession was born out of what he referred to as a religious conversion,

according to appellate court documents

.Before giving his detailed confession, he said he believed the end of the world was near — and asked officials with the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office if they “believed in the Lord.”“He broke down four or five times during his oral statement when he referred to his children and his mother,” court documents state.At trial, officers who were present for David Hoffman’s confession refuted the argument that he was in a state of impaired mental illness at the time of the confession.

ADVERTISEMENT

Officers cited a letter David Hoffman wrote and signed during the confession.David Hoffman’s defense team, on the other hand, claimed the confession contained false information because he was suffering a psychotic break at the time the confession was given. Three psychiatrists took the stand, too — only one claimed he did not realize the torture inflicted upon his wife was wrong, according to a 1981 Minnesota Star article.David Hoffman was swiftly convicted of first-degree murder and was sentenced to life in prison.

A release from confinement

After multiple failed attempts, David Hoffman was promised freedom. It was David Hoffman’s fifth attempt — and the fifth time Carol Hoffman’s family waited, terrified, for the parole board’s decision.“I’d be afraid I’d be the first one he’s going to come after, because we kept him in there,”

Carol Hoffman’s mother, Phyllis Stebbins told Fox News 9 in 2016

.

ADVERTISEMENT

This time, their fears about his release came to life.The news was handed to Carol Hoffman’s family in 2016. The parole board approved David Hoffman’s release, under the condition that he serve time at the Moose Lake Correctional Facility for educational classes designed for re-assimilation.By Oct. 12, 2017, David Hoffman was released on supervised parole.“We Speak for Carol,” a Facebook group dedicated to Carol Hoffman, has an array of posts voicing opposition to the release, including one post which states, “With the release of David this week the family is struggling to come to terms with what the parole board had decided last year.”Records indicate David Hoffman continues to call Duluth home.