A Sioux Falls man has been charged with his wife’s murder

SOUTH FALLS, SD (Dakota News Now) – Jimmy Ledbetter Jr. was arrested Friday and charged with 1st and 2nd degree murder.

Police were first called around 6:30 p.m. Monday in the 5300 block of Anthony Avenue.

Lt. Aaron Nyberg of the Sioux Falls Police Department shed light on what happened next.

“When officers arrived, they found a deceased female inside the residence and an unattended death investigation was initiated,” Nyberg said.

The victim was identified as Jimmy Ledbetter’s wife, Angela.

The family told Dakota News Now that they remember her as Angie Scholl.

The investigation changed after the autopsy.

“The Lincoln County Coroner ruled the cause of death a homicide by manual strangulation,” Nyberg said.

Police identified Ledbetter as a person of interest and established probable cause in the homicide, which led to the arrest.

“Officers use tools like surveillance cameras and other things to help establish time frames and such. Probably the people in Sioux Falls who help us the most,” Nyberg said.

The affidavit stated that Scholl had recently filed for divorce and had even planned to change the locks and password to the garage after Ledbetter arrived home at 2:00 a.m. on Oct. 27.

The Oct. 28 timeline showed Ledbetter arrived home around 3:30 p.m.

Around 5:30 p.m., two screams were heard, and Ledbetter left the house 15 minutes later through the garage door, leaving it open.

Before his arrest, Ledbetter set up a GoFundMe to raise money for funeral services, and the GoFundMe has now raised more than $1,500.

“People should be careful when they are going to donate any money to someone online. Maybe learn as much as you can about the situation before you send someone money,” Nyberg said.

Lt. Nyberg would not comment on a possible motive, but noted that previous calls had been made to the same address.

Although Ledbetter was booked into the Minnehaha County Jail, he is facing charges in the Lincoln County Court System, where he made his first appearance on Friday.

The family created a separate GoFundMe for donations