He shot her four times in the back with a .22 rifle in November 1996. A mortician, he cleaned her body and placed it in a freezer in her house, where it was not discovered until 1997. Tiede continued his community activities for several months after her death. He was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison. After a "habeas corpus" challenge, he was paroled on a $10,000 bond in 2014, but in 2016, Tiede had a resentencing hearing, and was sentenced to 99 years to life.