Donna Thorngren's husband, Curtis, was murdered on January 12, 2003.   A grand jury indicted Donna for Curtis' murder and indicted her son, Austin, as an accessory to murder.   Donna and Austin were to be tried in a joint proceeding.   However, Donna filed a pretrial motion to sever her trial from Austin's, claiming a joint trial would violate her Confrontation Clause rights.   Specifically, the State sought to introduce a statement Austin made to his friend, Adam Ketterling, tending to incriminate his mother in the murder.   If admitted, the statement would arguably violate Donna's Confrontation Clause rights should Austin invoke his Fifth Amendment right not to testify.   The statement occurred after a conversation between Donna and Austin in a shed outside Donna's mother's home on the day Curtis was murdered, but before his body was discovered.   Ketterling entered the shed shortly after Donna left 1 and found Austin visibly shaken.   When Ketterling asked Austin what was wrong, he said “I think my mom did it.”   This statement is referred to as the “shed statement.”   Upon further questioning of Ketterling at the grand jury hearing, Ketterling testified he believed this statement meant “she [Donna] killed his dad [Curtis] that morning.”

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