PIERRE, SD – A South Dakota jury convicted a man of killing his girlfriend and dumping her dismembered body in a river in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula last year.
Jurors in Pierre on Tuesday found 45-year-old Stephen R. Falkenberg guilty of first-degree manslaughter and second-degree murder in the March 1 death of 46-year-old Tamara LaFramboise.
Falkenberg is scheduled to be sentenced March 2. He faces life and prison and up to $100,000 in fines.
Prosecutors said in court documents that Falkenberg told his sister he argued with LaFramboise, pushed her and she hit her head and died.
The South Dakota Attorney General’s Office handled the prosecution and the investigation was conducted by the South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation, the Yankton County Sheriff’s Office, and the Yankton Police Department, the FBI, and Michigan authorities.
