Munger sentenced to life in prison

BRAINERD — Michael Lowell Munger was sentenced to life in prison Wednesday, May 17, for the murder of Lynnie Ann Loucks in 2022.

The 54-year-old Munger showed little outward emotion as he followed along during the court hearing where he was sentenced. He flipped through the pages of the victim impact statements as they were read aloud in court.

Contributed / Loucks' family

With tears in her eyes, Bobbi Loucks — Lynnie Ann Loucks’ daughter — read her statement to the silent courtroom, saying just 10 days before her mother’s murder she found out she was pregnant.

“She never knew,” Bobbi Loucks said. “I never got a chance to tell her.”

Bobbi Loucks said her son will never get to know his grandma. She then asked Crow Wing County District Court Judge Kristine DeMay to sentence Munger to life in prison, so her kids would never need to worry again.

“There are no words to properly describe today,” said Dennis Loucks, Lynnie Ann Loucks’ husband.

Dennis Loucks said one day Lynnie came home from work and told him she was having problems with a coworker. The next morning, Lynnie told him she was going to work early as she needed to open the business and said she would be picking up coffee for herself and the coworker she was having problems with. When he questioned Lynnie as to why, she told him everyone deserves a cup of coffee.

“Her generosity knew no bounds,” Dennis Loucks said.

Lynnie Ann Loucks’ brother Shawn Woolever said he missed his sister's spontaneity and how she could get others to join her in the fun.

“She had a way of getting me to take pictures and I hate taking pictures,” Woolever said.

Read in court by a victim advocate, Lynnie Ann Loucks’ sister Monica Schneider’s victim impact statement said she always saw the positives in others, though Schneider’s happiness, joy, spark of life and sympathy for others has been gone since the day she received the news of her sister’s death.

Shannon Wussow, executive director of Relationship Safety Alliance, talked about the ways domestic violence can affect others and on the services her company provides for those in need.

Following the impact statements DeMay asked Munger if he had anything to say. Munger turned in his chair to face the family of Lynnie Ann Loucks.

Crow Wing County Jail / Contributed

“I apologize to the friends and family,” Munger said. “I want to say I'm sorry, especially to her four children.”

Following the statements, DeMay sentenced Munger to life in prison for first-degree premeditated murder. He was also ordered to pay around $30,000 in restitution and a fine of $135.

TIM SPEIER, staff writer, can be reached on Twitter @timmy2thyme , call 218-855-5859 or email tim.speier@brainerddispatch.com .