Inset: Bryan W. Demarais (Meeker County Jail). Background: The area in Minnesota where Demarais and his family lived when he killed his wife (Google Maps).
A 31-year-old father in Minnesota will spend decades behind bars for killing his wife while their children were in the home, fatally shooting her shortly after seeing messages on her phone indicating that she was “involved in an extramarital affair” with another man.
Meek County District Judge Stephanie L. Beckman on Tuesday ordered Bryan Demarais to serve just over 30 years in a state correctional facility after he pleaded guilty to one count of second-degree murder involving the use of a firearm in the 2023 slaying of 29-year-old Kayla Demarais, records reviewed by Law&Crime show.
Demarais also pleaded to two counts of felony child endangerment, with those sentences to run concurrent to the murder sentence. Under Minnesota state law, Demarais will likely serve two-thirds of his sentence in prison — about 19 years after being credited with 579 days of time served — and the final one-third on supervised release.
Though they were in the house at the time of the shooting, the couple”s two children — a girl, 8 years old at the time, and a boy, then 11 — were not harmed.
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As Law&Crime previously reported, deputies with the Meeker County Sheriff’s office at about 10:15 a.m. on Dec. 28, 2023, responded to an emergency call regarding a shooting at a residence located in the 22000 block of 713th Avenue. The caller identified himself as Bryan Demarais and told the dispatcher, “I would like to report a murder,” explaining that he “had just shot his wife.”
“I just finished,” he told the dispatcher, according to a probable cause affidavit.
Bryan Demarais told the dispatchers that he shot his wife in the head several times with his .22 caliber handgun during a heated argument. He also asked authorities to make sure that their two children were taken out of the house through a window in the bedroom because he did not want them to see their mother’s bullet-riddled body. At that point Bryan Demarais agreed to empty his pockets and surrender to law enforcement.
Upon arriving at the scene, first responders said they encountered Bryan Demarais exiting the home and immediately took him into custody. Deputies then entered the home where they found Kayla Demarais, who appeared to have suffered at least one gunshot wound to the head. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
Bryan Demarais told police he suffers from multiple medical issues that qualify him for caregiver services, adding that his wife was his designated caregiver.
After being read his Miranda rights, police say Bryan Demarais agreed to be questioned by detectives. During the subsequent interview, he explained that he and his wife had argued the previous night about various marital issues, including financial hardships and Kayla Demarais having an extramarital affair.
According to Bryan Demarais, the following morning he looked at his wife’s phone and found text messages between her and the man she was having an affair with, referred to in the affidavit as “Witness.”
“On the morning of December 28, 2023, [Bryan Demarais] and [Kayla Demarais] were in bed,” the affidavit states. “[Kayla Demarais] was laying on [Bryan Demarais’] arm when [Kayla Demarais’] phone buzzed. [Bryan Demarais] then observed messages from Witness to [Kayla Demarais]. [Bryan Demarais] yelled at [Kayla Demarais] for not working on their relationship and cheating on [him].”
He then spoke to the two children before leaving for work, telling them that he and their mom were getting a divorce because she was having an affair.
When his wife tried to call him on his way to work, Bryan Demarais said he “became even more pissed” at her and refused to answer. He claimed not to remember anything after declining his wife’s calls.
Bryan Demarais was allowed to leave work early after he showed up 15 minutes late and spoke to his supervisor about his wife’s cheating and their impending divorce. The supervisor told police that Bryan Demarais appeared “distraught.”
The couple’s children told police that their dad came home from work early while they were playing video games and made them a snack. Both kids said they heard their parents get into a big argument and then heard multiple gunshots, before hearing their mother scream and seeing her fall to the ground in the living room. Their father then yelled for the kids to close the door to their bedroom.
Police determined that the .22-caliber semi-automatic handgun used in the murder belonged to Kayla Demarais.
