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Timothy Scott
Hendricks.(Courtesy of theRamsey County
Sheriff's Office)
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Michelle Ploetz
St. Paul man gets 48 years in ex-girlfriend's killingBy Emily Gurnon
[email protected] (mailto:[email protected]?
subject=TwinCities.com: )
POSTED: 10/03/2014 12:01:00 AM CDT | UPDATED: ABOUT 17 HOURS AGO
He took away a couple's only child, a young mother from her 8-
month-old son. And he doesn't remember how or why.
But Timothy Scott Hendricks of St. Paul pleaded guilty to killing
girlfriend Michelle Marie Ploetz and trying to kill her father. For
that, the 19-year-old was sentenced Friday in Ramsey County
District Court to nearly 48 years in prison.
Ploetz was 20 and a student at St. Catherine University when
Hendricks shot her to death April 16.
She, her baby and her father, John Ploetz, had gone to dinner with
Hendricks at the Little Oven restaurant on White Bear Avenue in
St. Paul. Hendricks wanted to see the son he and Ploetz had
together.
Days earlier, he had been released from jail on a charge of felony
assault for allegedly pointing a rifle at his 13-year-old nephew.
As they left the
restaurant, John
Ploetz drove, with
the other three in
the back seat of
the SUV.
John Ploetz later
told police he
heard a "pop"
from the back
seat, about four
blocks from the
restaurant. It was the sound of Hendricks shooting his daughter in
the head as their baby sat between them.
John Ploetz stopped "and heard another pop as something flew
past his head, breaking the car's windshield," the criminal
complaint said.
He thought Hendricks was trying to kill him, got out of the vehicle
and went to the rear door to try to get the gun.
Hendricks shot at John Ploetz twice more. John Ploetz ran, and
Hendricks chased him with the gun.
Hendricks told police after his arrest that "they" wanted full
custody of the baby and that he wouldn't be able to see the boy.
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He said Michelle Ploetz yelled at him.
"I just snapped. I was hearing voices in my head, and I just snapped, and I couldn't tell you really
what happened," he told police, according to the complaint.
He told police in January that he was addicted to "pot, benzos and opiates," with a "bottle-a-day"
habit.
John Ploetz told investigators he had tried to get Hendricks committed on three occasions because
he feared Hendricks would kill him, his wife, his daughter or the baby. He "expressed fear that
Hendricks would kill the rest of his family if not apprehended or if he ever gets out of custody," the
complaint said.
That was the reason he went along on the dinner date -- because both he and his daughter were
concerned about meeting with Hendricks, he told police.
Hendricks submitted a Norgaard plea Aug. 13 to charges of second-degree murder and second-
degree attempted murder, saying he was too high on drugs to remember what happened but
agreeing that he was guilty.
A Norgaard plea is used in circumstances where the defendant cannot remember because of
intoxication or amnesia.
Hendricks apologized in court Friday for his crimes.
"I'm very sorry for everything that happened," he said. "I don't really remember anything, but I
got enough from the police reports. Please forgive me."
Michelle Ploetz's mother tearfully read a statement to the court about the loss of her and her
husband's only child.
Michelle was small in stature but gave enormous hugs, her mother said. She was an excellent
mother to her baby and looked forward to completing her college degree.
On the day of the murder, Dianne Kocoerek Ploetz expected her husband, daughter and grandson
to pick her up from work, she said.
Instead, John Ploetz called her and frantically told her, "Tim shot Michelle! Tim shot Michelle!"
"She was unconscious when I got to the hospital, and I never got a chance to tell my baby
goodbye," Dianne Ploetz said.
Michelle Ploetz was removed from life-support two days later.
The worst part of each day, her mother said, is waking up and thinking, "Oh, what an awful
nightmare -- I dreamed that Michelle was killed."
Then she realizes once again that the nightmare is true.
She said Hendricks would find forgiveness only by letting God into his life.
"Something went horribly wrong, and Tim knows that," his sister Jennifer Hendricks said after the
hearing.
She said that he is "ready to start serving his time for the life he has regretfully taken."
She and the rest of Hendricks' family loved Michelle, she said.
Judge Salvador Rosas on Friday dismissed the assault charge involving Hendricks' nephew as part
of the plea agreement.
Emily Gurnon can be reached at 651-228-5522. Follow her at twitter.com/emilygurnon
(http://twitter.com/emilygurnon).
Enter email to know what happens next with this story [email protected]
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2 Comments TwinCities.com Login
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• Reply •
rich11ACR • 16 hours ago
No death penalty, no justice.
4△ ▽
• Reply •
david • 13 hours ago
he apologizes in one breath and says he cant remember in the next? really? what a p.o.s.
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