A 31-year-old Minnesota father is facing a lengthy prison sentence for the murder of his wife, which occurred while their children were present at home. The incident was triggered by his discovery of text messages on her phone hinting at an affair with another man.

On Tuesday, Meeker County District Judge Stephanie L. Beckman sentenced Bryan Demarais to over 30 years in a state prison after he admitted to second-degree murder using a firearm in the 2023 death of his 29-year-old wife, Kayla Demarais, according to court documents accessed by Law&Crime.

In addition to the murder charge, Demarais also admitted to two counts of felony child endangerment, with these sentences to be served simultaneously with the murder conviction. In accordance with Minnesota state law, Demarais is expected to complete approximately two-thirds of his sentence in prison, which equates to about 19 years after deducting 579 days for time already served. The remainder will be spent under supervised release.

Although their two children, an 8-year-old girl and an 11-year-old boy, were in the home during the shooting, they were unharmed.

As previously covered by Law&Crime, on December 28, 2023, around 10:15 a.m., deputies from the Meeker County Sheriff’s office were dispatched to a reported shooting at a residence on the 22000 block of 713th Avenue. The caller, identifying himself as Bryan Demarais, reported, “I would like to report a murder,” and confessed to having “just shot his wife.”

“I just finished,” he told the dispatcher, according to a probable cause affidavit.

Bryan Demarais told the dispatchers that he shot his wife in the head several times with his .22 caliber handgun during a heated argument. He also asked authorities to make sure that their two children were taken out of the house through a window in the bedroom because he did not want them to see their mother’s bullet-riddled body. At that point Bryan Demarais agreed to empty his pockets and surrender to law enforcement.

Upon arriving at the scene, first responders said they encountered Bryan Demarais exiting the home and immediately took him into custody. Deputies then entered the home where they found Kayla Demarais, who appeared to have suffered at least one gunshot wound to the head. She was pronounced dead at the scene.

Bryan Demarais told police he suffers from multiple medical issues that qualify him for caregiver services, adding that his wife was his designated caregiver.

After being read his Miranda rights, police say Bryan Demarais agreed to be questioned by detectives. During the subsequent interview, he explained that he and his wife had argued the previous night about various marital issues, including financial hardships and Kayla Demarais having an extramarital affair.

According to Bryan Demarais, the following morning he looked at his wife’s phone and found text messages between her and the man she was having an affair with, referred to in the affidavit as “Witness.”

“On the morning of December 28, 2023, [Bryan Demarais] and [Kayla Demarais] were in bed,” the affidavit states. “[Kayla Demarais] was laying on [Bryan Demarais’] arm when [Kayla Demarais’] phone buzzed. [Bryan Demarais] then observed messages from Witness to [Kayla Demarais]. [Bryan Demarais] yelled at [Kayla Demarais] for not working on their relationship and cheating on [him].”

He then spoke to the two children before leaving for work, telling them that he and their mom were getting a divorce because she was having an affair.

When his wife tried to call him on his way to work, Bryan Demarais said he “became even more pissed” at her and refused to answer. He claimed not to remember anything after declining his wife’s calls.

Bryan Demarais was allowed to leave work early after he showed up 15 minutes late and spoke to his supervisor about his wife’s cheating and their impending divorce. The supervisor told police that Bryan Demarais appeared “distraught.”

The couple’s children told police that their dad came home from work early while they were playing video games and made them a snack. Both kids said they heard their parents get into a big argument and then heard multiple gunshots, before hearing their mother scream and seeing her fall to the ground in the living room. Their father then yelled for the kids to close the door to their bedroom.

Police determined that the .22-caliber semi-automatic handgun used in the murder belonged to Kayla Demarais.