Nikki Entzel of Bismarck, North Dakota, was sentenced to life in prison for killing her husband with the help of another man in a scheme to collect life insurance payments.
BISMARCK, N.D. - A Bismarck woman was sentenced Friday to life in prison with a chance of parole for plotting with another man to kill her husband to .
Nikki Entzel, 41, and Earl Howard, 43, a man with dual citizenship in the U.S. and Canada, were accused of plotting the death of Chad Entzel, 42, and attempting to cover it up through several means including starting fires in the furnace room and in the bedroom where the body was found.
Nikki Entzel, 41, and Earl Howard, 43, were accused in early 2020 of plotting the death of Chad Entzel, 42, and attempting to cover it up. They were charged with three conspiracy felonies: murder, arson and evidence tampering.
Authorities have alleged that Nikki Entzel and Earl Howard were in a romantic relationship, and that Nikki Entzel took out a $26,000 renter's insurance policy in the days before Chad Entzel's death and tried to collect on it after he died.