A former Minnesota fugitive arrested by U.S. Marshals in Waukegan on Sept. 3 has been charged with killing his wife, and extradition proceedings are scheduled to move forward.
Todd Larry Tennin, of Maplewood, Minn., who was being sought for parole violations and already had been named a suspect in his wife’s death, was arrested at a private residence in Waukegan. Tennin, 31, is being held without bond in Lake County Jail.
Maplewood Police Chief Paul Schnell said Tennin was charged with second-degree homicide last week in connection with the shooting death of 41-year-old April Marie Tennin in the early morning hours of Aug. 23 in her Maplewood home.
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According to the charging documents, the couple was married at Stillwater Prison, a State of Minnesota correctional facility, on Jan. 2, 2014. Schnell said Tennin has a criminal history, including weapons charges, and that when the case is presented to a grand jury, the current charge against him could be upgraded in an indictment to first-degree murder.
Schnell previously said an argument between Tennin and his wife broke out with the woman’s children home at the time, a shot was heard, and then Tennin left the home.
April Tennin was found shot dead in the bathroom of the home just after 6 a.m., he said.
According to the charging documents, police received a call at 6:06 a.m. on Aug. 23 and a 16-year-old girl in the home said, “my mom’s dead in the bathroom!” The girl’s 12-year-old brother also was present with her at the time, the documents stated.
The documents say that when police arrived, they found April Marie Tennin dead in a pool of blood in the bathroom with an electric toothbrush still running on the counter. Two live rounds of ammunition also were found on the bathroom floor.
The U.S. Marshals Service Great Lakes Fugitive Force, based out of northern Illinois, arrested Tennin without incident after locating him at the Waukegan home and he was taken to the Lake County Jail for booking.
Lake County Undersheriff Ray Rose said Wednesday that although Tennin had waived extradition on the parole violation charges, he had not waived extradition on the homicide charge, and a court date is scheduled Friday.
Rose said if Tennin does not change his mind, extradition hearings and proceedings could take a month or two, depending on circumstances and scheduling. Schnell said he is confident Tennin will be returned to Minnesota whether or not he fights extradition.
“He’s going to end up coming here to Minnesota one way or the other,” Schnell said.
Schnell said earlier in September that Maplewood Police Department investigators received information that Tennin was hiding in Waukegan. Investigators worked with members of the Minnesota-based U.S. Marshals Service Fugitive Task Force to further pinpoint Tennin’s location. The Minnesota fugitive task force contacted its counterparts in Illinois, who conducted surveillance on the home until Tennin was taken into custody Sept. 3.
Tennin was the subject of an arrest warrant issued by the Minnesota Department of Corrections on Aug. 24.
He was wanted for violating the terms and conditions of his supervised release from prison in connection with a weapons-related conviction. In addition, Tennin was wanted at the time for questioning in connection to the shooting death of his wife.
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