Youngmark to enter plea in Polk County murder trial

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BALSAM LAKE - A northwest Wisconsin man is scheduled to enter a plea February 13th for the brutal beating death of his fiancé.

45-year-old Scott Youngmark of Milltown was ordered yesterday to stand trial on a Polk County charge of first-degree intentional homicide. A medical examiner testified that 47-year-old Kari Roberts had broken facial bones and extensive bruises on other parts of her body down to her thighs. Court records showed that Youngmark was freed from jail on a reduced bond just 15 days before the murder. The bond was connected with his second bail-jumping charge in three months, for allegedly drinking alcohol in violation of previous bond agreements.

Police found Roberts’ body in her apartment on Dec. 1 first – and a sheriff’s officer testified that Youngmark was barricaded in his mother’s apartment when deputies were called. Prosecutors said Youngmark was awaiting sentencing at the time for a 2011 incident in which he stabbed a man just below the neck, and hit another man in the jaw with his knee. After he was arrested in that case, officials said he asked family members to encourage witnesses not to testify against him. He ended up striking a plea deal. Authorities said Youngmark has also had numerous convictions in neighboring Minnesota from 1996-through-2008.

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