When Gordon Laakso strangled his wife Mary during an argument, drove her body to a cornfield, and abandoned her there rather than seeking medical help, he committed an act of extreme domestic violence that ended a life. Yet the Wisconsin justice system’s response—a 20-year sentence with just 14 years of actual confinement—reveals a disturbing pattern in how our society treats domestic homicides compared to other killings.
The sentence handed down to 71-year-old Laakso represents another example of how the justice system continues to view domestic violence deaths with less severity than other homicides, despite overwhelming evidence that intimate partner violence represents one of the most predictable and preventable forms of homicide in America.
Domestic Violence Deaths: Treated as Lesser Crimes
The plea deal that allowed Laakso to avoid charges for strangulation and hiding a corpse in exchange for pleading guilty to reckless homicide exemplifies how domestic killings are often downgraded in our justice system. This pattern repeats across jurisdictions nationwide. In a 2019 analysis by The Washington Post examining over 4,000 domestic homicide cases, defendants received sentences averaging 40% shorter than those who killed strangers under similar circumstances.
The Laakso case exhibits classic elements that should have warranted maximum penalties: the intentional act of strangulation (which experts recognize as a significant predictor of homicide), the calculated decision to hide the body rather than seek help, and the clear consciousness of guilt evidenced by his own admission that he should have taken her to a hospital. Yet the system still offered a plea deal that dismissed critical charges.
Compare this to non-domestic homicides where hiding a body alone often results in maximum sentences. When Brendt Christensen killed Yingying Zhang in Illinois in 2017, the fact that he disposed of her body in a way that prevented recovery was considered an aggravating factor that helped prosecutors secure a life sentence. The disparity is striking and troubling.
The Panic Defense: A Dangerous Precedent
Laakso’s statement to police—
