Wilder Intentions: Love, Lies and Murder in North Dakota

by C.J. Wynn

“There’s a saying in military life that is something to the effect of ‘the military will change a man, for better or worse.’

They had joined a local LDS church shortly after arriving in Minot, but Richie would only allow Angila to attend if her attire met his approval, sometimes telling her she was “not good enough to be seen with.”

Christopher scooped the toddler onto his lap and wrapped his arms around his son. He buried his face in the child’s shoulder, tears streaming from his eyes.

If there were any indications at all that Christopher Jackson had been involved with the murder of Angila Wilder, detectives had not yet found them.

“He’s a big guy, but he’s a giant teddy bear,” she said of Christopher. “I know in my heart that he didn’t do anything to hurt her. They always cared for each other.

Chris would have absolutely nothing to gain from this. Chris has lost everything from this.”

Both Sundheim and Asham would remark later how clean the vehicle was—with the exception of one small reddish-brown stain on the inside panel of the front passenger side door.

Richie had not bothered to try to contact Angila to find out if she was okay. In fact, he had not called anyone.

Richie had a knack for claiming that women who accused him of things had mental diseases.

Along with juggling communication with his ex-wife, current wife, and three lovers, Richie’s electronic devices revealed that he had a propensity for viewing online pornography sites.

For almost forty minutes, Christopher described in painstaking detail the steps he took between the time he woke up at home at 8:30 p.m. and ate his dinner of spaghetti and meatballs in bed, to the time he walked out of Walmart and hailed a taxi shortly before 7:00 a.m. the next morning. Not one detail had changed from the account he had described during his second interview with detectives several months earlier.

But, having to come back to Minot now and be inside the house his fiancée was murdered in had just made him relive that fateful morning all over again.

That meant printed copies had not even existed when Richie claimed he received them from Christopher in October.

“Tell us why it’s not possible, Chris,” Mattice probed. “Because it’s Angila,” Christopher began. “Since the first time I ever touched her, it’s always been Angila.”

They were heartbreaking words spoken by a man who had lost the most important person in his life. With that, detectives knew it was time to let Christopher go, hopefully, to someday find the peace and healing he so deserved.

The two men had been in the same lobby together, with several other adults and children milling about, for a total of one minute and fifty-four seconds. In that time, they had only been near each other for less than eight seconds, when they were seen exiting, then going their separate ways.

“My mom never had us do our homework or had any set rules for us. The only requirement of us is that we had to be quiet and leave her alone,” Cyndi remembered.

After his late-night shifts at the hospital, while his wife and children were at home in bed, he oftentimes went over to Jennifer’s or Joanne’s for a quick sexual romp.

“Because we, like, had this thing planned for, like, two fucking years! We were just waiting …”

I’m a schoolteacher and I’m a mom, but I’m very, like, no feelings, no emotion … Like when the cops came into my school and questioned me and said she was dead I was like, ‘Okay.’

If it was me, I fucking would have gone back and cut her fucking fingers off. I would have burned them. I would have lit the house on fire.”

But she did not yet know that every word she had said to Matt had been recorded. There was no way she was going to be able to take any of them back.

Perhaps this attitude was best captured by Eugene Peterson in his book As Kingfishers Catch Fire: ‘The ancient world never expected to be happy and was sometimes surprised by little episodes of it. The modern world expects to be happy all the time and is full of resentment when it isn’t.’

Not one person had made themselves available to come to court and provide testimony to highlight the positive aspects of Cyndi’s character, or to potentially explain why they believed she deserved leniency. Not even her mother or younger sister.

You were the one person who could have spared Angila Wilder’s life. You chose not to do so.”

Even though the “open plea” arrangement between the prosecution and defense had outlined that she was ultimately the final decision maker on sentencing, no one had anticipated that Judge Louser would issue the stiffest possible penalty that she was within her legal rights to impose.

“Ms. Wilder, you have no legal rights to the children of Angila Wilder. And I do want to be very clear, those are the children of Angila Wilder,” Louser added.

Cynthia Louise Wilder, who had been recorded chastising her husband for not being able to keep his mouth shut, had just received the same sentence as he did. All because—fortunately for Angila’s family and the sake of justice served—she, too, had not been able to keep her mouth shut. It was irony at its best.

Being a mother and being a nurse were the only two things Angila had ever wanted her whole life. She died before being able to realize her second dream, but in June 2019, Minot State University awarded Angila with a posthumous degree in nursing.

As a result, Abby had dropped out of high school and become pregnant at 17. Michael had also dropped out of school, struggled with drugs, and was in and out of jail. At just 28 years old, Cyndi was now incarcerated for the rest of her life for her role in a murder.

I went to all his court hearings regarding this case. I sat there during his trial. Broken and empty inside, but I had to save face and pretend like everything was ok. I had to act clueless and shocked. I couldn’t answer questions when co-workers, friends or family asked. I had to play dumb.

I did find it intriguing that she carried the belief that she did not deserve to be in prison simply because she had not been the one to stab Angila.

She also did not think that activities such as scrapbooking and crocheting were skills that would prepare anyone for society outside of prison walls.

It seemed to me that Abigail was the only person who had remained a constant source of support for Cyndi throughout everything that had happened, and I found it odd that Cyndi seemed to harbor so much underlying resentment toward her sister.

But that changed once Cyndi was also convicted. Jeena promptly cut off all contact, telling Cyndi in an email: Beth is better off without you.

One thing was for certain—Cyndi still very much despised Angila Wilder.

Cyndi could not even bring herself to say Angila’s name out loud. It was always “her,” “she,” “that woman,” “bitch,” “the kids’ mom,” or “Richie’s ex-wife.”

While Cyndi had consistently maintained that he was home the entire night, Richie was busy telling stories that placed himself directly at the scene of the murder.

she was careful to selectively choose the most benign aspect of the crime for her own culpability—simply tossing a bag to Richie for him to dispose of evidence.

She still did not understand that the actions she chose to take both before and after the crime made her just as guilty as the person who carried out the physical act.

Cyndi admitted that she had left her three young children alone that night to go out with Matt. When she finally went inside her trailer home after 2:00 a.m., after having spent three hours at the bar, and another two hours sitting in Matt’s car, she found three-year-old Beth awake and crying on the floor.

Even though her actions undoubtedly deeply disturbed me, my psychology roots force me to be inquisitive and always wanting to learn more about people’s behavior.

it has always been deeply unsettling for me when I learn about any young person who has committed a crime and is facing a lengthy prison stay.

Frankly speaking, I am not convinced Richie is capable of telling the truth.

By deciding that Angila’s children were better off without her, Richie and Cynthia may never see their own daughter again. By believing that their lives would be easier after Angila was permanently removed, they now indefinitely reside behind guarded prison walls and barbed wire fences.

With 44 wounds total, some up to four inches deep, Richie’s rage was unmistakable.