Ezra McCandless Trial: Verdict, Sentence, and Appeals Through 2026

The Ezra McCandless trial ended on November 1, 2019, when a Dunn County, Wisconsin jury convicted her of first-degree intentional homicide for the stabbing death of 24-year-old Alex Woodworth. Judge James M. Peterson sentenced her on February 7, 2020 to life in prison with eligibility to petition for extended supervision after 50 years. Every appeal has failed. The Wisconsin Supreme Court declined to review the case on June 16, 2026, exhausting her state-level options.¹

Who Was Killed and Why Prosecutors Said It Happened

McCandless, born Monica Kay Karlen, was 20 in 2017 when she began dating Jason Mengel, an Army Reserve medic, after meeting at a coffee shop in Eau Claire. Through the same coffee shop the couple befriended Alex Woodworth, a barista and substitute teacher. McCandless began a secret relationship with Woodworth while still with Mengel, then broke up with both men.²

Dunn County District Attorney Andrea Nodolf described the entanglement to the jury as a “love square” that “began and stopped with Ezra McCandless.” The state’s theory of motive was that McCandless wanted to reconcile with Mengel and that Woodworth had become an obstacle. Nodolf argued McCandless’s life was “out of control” and she was “desperately tryin’ to get back some control,” concluding that Woodworth had to be “outta the picture.”²

What Happened on March 22, 2018

That morning McCandless went to the Eau Claire coffee shop to see Mengel, telling him she wanted to share her journals with Woodworth to “take back her life.” Concerned, Mengel bicycled to Woodworth’s house. A passerby called police, but officers arrived and found nothing alarming.²

About three hours later, McCandless walked up to the farmhouse of Don Sipple, a dairy farmer near Spring Brook. Sipple testified she was barefoot, muddy to the knees, and had dried blood around her mouth. She told him she had been assaulted, and he called 911. Investigators found Woodworth’s body in the backseat of McCandless’s car on a dirt road nearby. He had been stabbed 16 times in the head, neck, torso, and groin.²

The murder weapon, a knife prosecutors said McCandless had taken from her adoptive father’s kitchen, was found in a ditch along the road to Sipple’s farmhouse. DNA from both McCandless and Woodworth was recovered from the blade.³ Woodworth’s cell phone was found smashed into pieces along the same road. Prosecutors argued she destroyed it to keep him from calling for help.²

The “Boy” Carving and the Staged-Scene Theory

At the hospital, McCandless first told police that Woodworth had carved the word “boy” into her left forearm, saying he used the word because she had questioned her gender identity in high school. Detective Ryan Prock of the Eau Claire Police pressed her, noting it was not physically plausible for the right-handed Woodworth, seated in the driver’s position, to reach over and carve the word cleanly into her left arm. McCandless then admitted she had done it herself.² At trial she testified the self-inflicted wound was a “reaction” and that she did not know why she did it.³

Prosecutors treated the carving, along with cuts to her clothing and the smashed phone, as evidence that McCandless had staged the scene to look like the victim of a hate-motivated attack. Blood-pattern analysis indicated the stabbing occurred primarily outside the vehicle, undercutting her claim that the fight began in the backseat. The state noted that Woodworth had virtually no defensive wounds, that the first blow struck the back of his head, and that he was nearly dead by the time his body was placed in the car. McCandless said she had grabbed the knife by the blade during the struggle, yet her hands showed only superficial cuts.²

The Self-Defense Case

The 15-day trial in Dunn County Circuit Court was broadcast by Court TV. McCandless was represented by Aaron Nelson and Deja Vishny.² She testified for several days that she had driven with Woodworth to a country road to talk about their breakup, that the car got stuck in the mud, and that Woodworth then climbed on top of her in the backseat, called her “boy,” told her she “had betrayed him,” and began cutting her clothes and skin with a knife. She said she feared for her life, kneed him in the groin, took the knife, and stabbed him. Under cross-examination, prosecutors pointed to inconsistencies between her courtroom account and earlier statements to police about how she gained control of the knife.⁴

Psychologist Steven Benson testified for the defense that McCandless had childhood-onset post-traumatic stress disorder and persistent depressive disorder, and that her behavior during police interviews and the self-inflicted carving were consistent with trauma responses. Dr. James Hopper, a clinical instructor at Harvard Medical School, testified about the effects of trauma on memory and criticized the police interview techniques used with her.³

A significant evidentiary fight involved Woodworth’s personal journals, which contained writings about internal pain, self-sacrifice, violence, and cannibalism. The defense wanted to use them to support the self-defense theory. McCandless testified he had shared the writings with her during their relationship and that the content had made her uncomfortable. The circuit court admitted the entries but gave the jury a limiting instruction on how they could be considered.⁵ Woodworth’s father, John, said during the trial that it was “one thing to lose your child” and “another one to have his name drug through the mud like this.”²

Jason Mengel also testified for the state. He said he had felt manipulated by McCandless and recounted that after their breakup she told him Woodworth had been aggressive and had choked her during sex.⁶

Verdict and Sentence

The jury deliberated about three hours before returning a guilty verdict on November 1, 2019.⁷ One juror later cited the stab wound to the back of Woodworth’s head, and McCandless’s own admission that she struck there first, as evidence of “an intentional act.”²

Before sentencing, McCandless told the court, “I loved Alex very much” and “I will never find words to express how sorry I am.”⁸ Judge Peterson said he did not believe the apology was sincere, called the killing a “brutal homicide and a terrible crime,” and said McCandless “did not appear remorseful during the duration of the trial.” He added that if she followed the rules in prison, “there’s still the chance to not spend the rest of her life in prison.”⁹ John Woodworth told reporters that the verdict “does not bring Alex back,” and said he had forgiven McCandless: “Hate’s like drinking poison and waiting for the other person to die.”²

Appeals Through 2026

McCandless has tried three times to overturn her conviction. She first filed a postconviction motion in Dunn County Circuit Court arguing that her trial attorneys were ineffective, that the court had improperly limited the jury’s consideration of Woodworth’s journals, and that the prosecution had made improper closing arguments. After a hearing on July 3, 2023, Judge Peterson denied the motion.¹⁰

She then appealed to the Wisconsin Court of Appeals, adding a claim that her statements to police during interviews at a locked psychiatric unit should have been suppressed because they were taken without Miranda warnings and were involuntary. On September 3, 2025, a three-judge panel rejected every claim and affirmed the conviction, finding that the interviews were not custodial and that officers had not used coercive tactics that overbore her will.⁵

On October 3, 2025, she petitioned the Wisconsin Supreme Court on three issues: the voluntariness of her police statements, the circuit court’s limits on the victim’s journals as character evidence, and whether jury instructions had prevented the jury from fully considering psychological evidence.¹¹ On June 16, 2026, the Wisconsin Supreme Court declined to take the case. McCandless remains incarcerated and is serving her life sentence.¹

1
WQOW. Wisconsin Supreme Court Declines to Review Ezra McCandless Murder Conviction
2
CBS News. Ezra McCandless: Alex Woodworth Murder Sentencing
3
Wisconsin Court of Appeals. State v. McCandless, No. 2023AP2266-CR
4
KARE 11. Accused WI Murderer Ezra McCandless Takes the Stand
5
Findlaw. State v. McCandless, No. 2023AP2266-CR
6
KARE 11. Salacious Testimony in WI Murder Trial as Ex-Boyfriend Takes the Stand
7
WBAY. Wisconsin Court of Appeals Denies Ezra McCandless Appeal for New Murder Trial
8
WQOW. Ezra McCandless Sentenced to Life With Eligibility for Parole
9
Twin Cities Pioneer Press. Ezra McCandless Sentenced for Alexander Woodworth Murder
10
WAOW. Attorneys for Ezra McCandless Argue for a New Trial
11
WEAU. Ezra McCandless Seeks to Overturn Murder Conviction Again