An Oregon tragedy unfolds as a man stands accused of fatally shooting his wife after she handed him divorce papers. Within the confines of a jail cell, he reportedly confessed to her son, saying he “lost it.” Prosecutors and family members have described him as “narcissistic,” suggesting his actions were driven by a refusal to part with the property they shared. Authorities allege he concealed her body in a nearby forest.

During the opening statements of Michel Fournier’s murder trial, Deputy District Attorney John Millar recounted the grim reality: “She ended up, instead of starting that new chapter, wrapped in a tarp and dumped in the woods.” This poignant statement was reported by The Oregonian.

The 72-year-old Fournier faces charges of second-degree murder in connection with the death of his 61-year-old wife, Susan Lane-Fournier. Her disappearance in November 2024 came to light when her truck was discovered abandoned in Mount Hood National Forest. Soon after, deputies from the Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office found her body in the Welches area, near East Highway 26 and East Miller Road. Fournier was apprehended shortly after this discovery, according to police.

An autopsy confirmed her death as a homicide, with prosecutors revealing that she was shot multiple times in the head, neck, and chest. A GoFundMe page organized by her family claims that Lane-Fournier’s death occurred shortly after she served divorce papers to her husband.

In recorded jailhouse conversations from early 2025, Fournier allegedly made several incriminating statements to Lane-Fournier’s adult son. As reported by The Oregonian, one call captured Fournier expressing remorse with the words, “I’m sorry. I lost it.”

“I’m sorry,” Fournier allegedly said in one call, according to prosecutors. “I lost it.”

Fournier allegedly added, “I will be paying for it for a very long time.”

After Lane-Fournier disappeared in November 2024, it was initially thought that the woman was a “missing hiker” who had gotten lost with her two Malinois-mix dogs after the discovery of her truck, according to Clackamas officials. Fournier is accused of killing the dogs, too.

“My sister lost her life because of a narcissistic, immature little man,” said Lane-Fournier’s brother, Michael Lane, in an interview with local CBS affiliate KOIN after opening statements this week.

“His name was never on the lease,” Lane told local NBC affiliate KGW, in reference to the home the couple shared. “He had to kill her to mute the divorce so he could keep the property.”

Online filings viewed by Law&Crime show there was an unsuccessful attempt to serve Fournier on Nov. 8, 2024. The couple had been married since May 2012. Lane-Fournier had filed for divorce on Oct. 31, 2025, citing “irreconcilable differences” that caused an “irremediable breakdown of their marriage.”

As people were searching for Lane-Fournier, prosecutors say her husband called police two days after she was reported missing and said, ‘I think you guys want to talk to me. I was just served divorce papers. I’ve got a target on my back,’” according to The Oregonian. Lane-Fournier’s family and friends, including her mom, have said they suspected early on that something sinister happened to her.

“The first thing out of her mouth was, ‘That son of a b— killed her,’” Lane said of his mother to KOIN.

“She’s ex-search and rescue in California, so she’s well aware of safety procedures when it comes to being out in the woods,” Lane-Fournier’s other son, Dakota Lane, told Portland CBS affiliate KOIN while authorities were searching for her. “I don’t think she’s a missing hiker at all,” added James Evans, a friend of Lane-Fournier’s who spoke to KOIN during the search.

Evans wound up being the one who found Lane-Fournier’s body, hidden underneath a tarp.

“When I reached down to pick up the tarp, I looked up and I saw a pair of boots,” he told KOIN.

A post on the “Always Our Phoenix” memorial page dedicated to Lane-Fournier describes her as “an artist, a creator, a healer, and a connector” who lived in a “small, sunlit home on the edge of the forest, where her walls bore the hues of her soul.”

Fournier’s trial is expected to last two weeks.