Eden Prairie Man Killed Wife In Front Of Their Toddlers: Jury

EDEN PRAIRIE, MN — An Eden Prarie man faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison after a Hennepin County Jury found him guilty of killing his wife in front of their two toddlers.

Ryan C. Rooney, 36, was convicted Friday of first and second-degree murder. His official sentence will be handed down on Saturday morning.

"Today's guilty verdicts hold Mr. Rooney accountable for this senseless and devastating murder," Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said in a statement.

"I am grateful to the jury for their service throughout the trial and my thoughts are with those affected by Mr. Rooney's actions, especially the two young children exposed to this horrific event at such an early age."

On Nov. 2, 2021, at about 11 a.m., officers responded to the Residence Inn Hotel in Eden Prairie to assist hotel staff with a welfare check.

Officers spoke to hotel staff and learned that the occupants of one of the rooms had been staying at the hotel for about 20 days and had been due to check out two days earlier, on Oct. 31.

Housekeepers checked on the room three times but the interior security latch was closed during each check they made. The front desk also called the room several times but there was no answer, according to the criminal complaint.

On the morning of Nov. 2, 2021, hotel staff and maintenance went to the room and used tools to open the interior security latch and gain access to the room. Hotel staff entered the room and found a small child in a crib and a man in the fetal position on the bed, police said.

Unable to wake the man, the staff called the police.

Officers arrived and noted that the room was extremely cluttered and smelled strongly of urine, the criminal complaint states. Rooney came downstairs from the hotel room’s second level, and police noted that he had a gunshot wound under his chin and an exit wound to the top of his head, according to investigators.

A small child was walking with him, authorities said. Officers then located another small child in a crib that was soiled in urine.

Their ages were 1 and 2 years old.

Police arrested Rooney and found on him two baggies of suspected methamphetamine and a pistol holster, according to the criminal complaint.

Officers asked him where the gun was and he indicated that it was upstairs, authorities said.

Officers checked the second level of the hotel room and found Rooney's wife of two months, deceased, with a gunshot wound chest and an exit wound to her back, according to the criminal complaint. She was cold to the touch and her joints felt stiff, authorities said.

Investigators found a 9mm Ruger LCP handgun on the second floor, according to police.

A tray of methamphetamine was found on the toilet in the bathroom that would be easily accessible to a small child, authorities said.

In a police interview days later, Rooney said "I don’t know why I shot [Victim]," according to the criminal complaint.

Rooney has several previous convictions related to domestic assault.