For murder of wife in their St. Paul bedroom, as daughter slept down hall, man gets 21-year sentence

Mara H. Gottfried, Pioneer Press
Updated ·6 min read

Caitlin Kelley Aldridge knew the mental turmoil her husband was going through and tried to get him help, while also making plans to keep herself and their 13-year-old daughter safe.

But Johnny Ray Aldridge “took that from her when he killed her” in their St. Paul home as their daughter slept down the hallway, Assistant Ramsey County Attorney Nicole Harris said Friday at his sentencing for second-degree intentional murder.

Ramsey County Judge Elena Ostby sentenced Aldridge to a term of more than 21 years, over Aldridge’s attorney’s argument that he should receive a lesser sentence because he was mentally ill when he killed his 41-year-old wife.

Johnny Aldridge, 49, was a victim of random violence about three months before the homicide, which caused his mental health to devolve into paranoid delusions, said Katie Conners, managing attorney of the Ramsey County public defender’s office. There was no history of domestic violence between him and Caitlin, Conners said.

“The impact of this crime is beyond words and beyond comprehension,” said Caitlin’s mother, Krista Kelley Walsh, in a victim impact statement read in court by Assistant Ramsey County Attorney Ryan Flynn.

“I will now say ‘loss’ more times than I can bear, and I will stop well before I have exhausted them,” the statement said. The Aldridges’ daughter “has suffered the loss of both her parents; loss of her home; loss of financial support. … Then, there are the deep essential losses. Loss of feeling safe; loss of trust in most people; loss of stability; loss of joy.”

Apology in court

Caitlin Aldridge‘s sister, Shaun Walsh, said she was initially sad, “but now, to say that I’m mad is an understatement,” according to a victim impact statement read in court by Harris.

She said she’s “enraged that our mental health system doesn’t work,” that Johnny Aldridge killed her sister, how long it took to transfer custody of the Aldridges’ daughter to her, and that “the court expectation is that I … explain to you who my sister was and why she did not deserve to be murdered in her own bedroom by someone who said they loved her.”

Caitlin Aldridge, who was known as Casey, “was generous to a fault,” Shaun Walsh said. She “spent endless hours listening to (her daughter’s) stories, singing and watching her dance.” Her daughter “deserved to get to grow up with Casey as her mom,” Walsh’s statement said.

Speaking before Ostby sentenced him, Johnny Aldridge said he wanted to tell everyone — but especially his daughter, and Caitlin’s mother and sister — “how sorry I am for the pain that I caused.”

He said he’s learned about his mental illness, but “I did not understand at the time how sick I was. I did not understand what was happening to me. … Because of my confusion, I have ruined my life, my daughter’s life, my wife’s life. I’m sorry that I took my daughter’s mom away from her.”

He said he loved his wife and still does.

After drive-by shooting, he became delusional

What happened before the homicide led Johnny Aldridge to spiral “into paranoid delusions that twisted his love for his daughter into an unrecognizable thing” and that was directed at his wife, but the effect “would not be known until months later,” Conners said.

In June 2021, Johnny Aldridge and a friend reported they were sitting in Aldridge’s garage when they saw someone shooting from the window of a passing vehicle, according to a police report. Aldridge was treated for a gunshot wound to his finger. It appeared that a neighbor’s house was possibly the target, police said in 2021.

He was diagnosed with PTSD and began having delusions “to the point where he was believing things about his wife that were patently untrue,” Conners said after court. He went to the hospital twice in August 2021, but he was discharged, according to Conners.

Throughout interviews with police after Johnny Aldridge turned himself in for killing Caitlin Aldridge, he appeared to be obsessed with claims that people were trying to harm their daughter, according to police. He believed his wife was somehow involved.

On Sept. 28, 2021, Aldridge went to the Ramsey County Law Enforcement Center at about 3 a.m. and called 911, saying that he had killed his wife at their home in the 30 block of Winnipeg Avenue on St. Paul’s North End, according to a criminal complaint. Officers took him into custody and found Caitlin, Aldridge’s wife of 11 years, dead in their home.

The homicide wasn’t a situation of a man with a history of abuse killing his wife, Conners said. “This is a case of a loving husband and father who suffered a psychotic break that had tragic consequences,” she said. He was diagnosed with schizophrenia after his arrest.

In a separate court proceeding after he was charged, Aldridge was civilly committed as mentally ill and dangerous. He was found to be competent to stand trial in March 2023.

Aldridge has been receiving treatment at Anoka-Metro Regional Treatment Center, the state’s largest psychiatric hospital. Conners asked that Ostby send him to the Forensic Mental Health Program, formerly called the Minnesota Security Hospital, to complete his treatment in the secure facility before he serve a prison sentence of 12½ years.

Aldridge pleaded guilty to murder in April.

Judge agrees to longer sentence

The prosecution asked for a sentence of 21 years and 9 months, which is what Ostby agreed to.

“Sadly, the fact that we’re here is a testament to the deficiencies in our mental health system, and that’s not unique to Minnesota,” Ostby said.

In arguing for a lesser sentence, a defense attorney has to explain why an offense is less serious than a typical offense and Harris said that wasn’t the case.

Caitlin Aldridge “was found face down in a pool of her blood … with her cell phone in her hand,” Harris said, and the imprint of the gun’s muzzle could be seen in the back of her head. “Her young daughter was asleep down the hall while this all took place and was left there to possibly find her mother before the police responded to the home,” Harris added.

While two examiners identified Aldridge as having mental illness, one pointed out that he caused his “symptoms to be heightened” due to his use of alcohol and drugs, Harris said.

The morning of the murder, Johnny Aldridge texted Caitlin saying, “This isn’t love,” Harris said. Caitlin Aldridge had plans and notes on her cellphone about how custody, selling the home and dividing their assets might work.

In Shaun Walsh’s statement read Friday, she said she’s angry at the implication that a “mental health crisis could explain shooting someone you love in the head. There are a million other responses Johnny could have had to the state of delusion” he had about Caitlin as it related to their daughter.

Caitlin Aldridge spent most of her career as a leader on the youth programs team at the YWCA of Minneapolis. She developed programs focused on leadership, anti-racism and wellness.

“She worked primarily in programs that supported the empowerment of girls and left lasting impacts in our communities,” her sister said.

Domestic violence help

Help is available 24/7 through the Minnesota Day One crisis hotline by calling 866-223-1111 or texting 612-399-9995.

Related Articles