Kansas Man Allegedly Murders Wife, Buys Sex Doll with Her Life Insurance Money: Report

About 21 months after Kristen Trickle’s death in July 2021, Mr. Trickle was charged with her murder. A Kansas man, he bought a life-size sex doll worth $2,000 just two days after receiving her insurance payout. Soon after, an official from the Hays Police Department reached the crime scene and suspected the husband’s involvement in the death after talking to Mr. Trickle.

Three days after Ms. Kristen’s death, the coroner initially declared it a suicide. While Mr. Trickle, who was in the Army Reserve, was free to go, the investigating officers kept working on the case. Years later, a report revealed that Mr. Trickle cashed in on two life insurance policies for his wife totaling over $120,000.

Detective Joshua “JB” Burkholder expressed concern over Mr. Trickle purchasing the sex doll just months after his wife’s death, stating, “There’s a mourning process that I think everyone needs to go through — should go through when a loved one dies.” Kristen Trickle’s aunt, Delynn Rice, was appalled by the use of her niece’s life insurance money for a sex doll, stating, “It just was like he bought a replacement of her with her money.”

Additionally, it was revealed that Mr. Trickle spent all $120,000 of the insurance money in about eight months, including spending on video games, paying off debts, and buying music equipment in hopes of becoming a performer. In September 2023, Mr. Trickle was charged with murder in the first degree and interfering with law enforcement.

During his trial, prosecutors brought up his purchase of the sex doll. His mother, Tina Kreutzer, took the stand as a defense witness, stating that the doll was for the warmth and comfort of Mr. Trickle, who was having nightmares and trouble sleeping after his wife’s death. In November 2023, more than four years after Kristen Trickle’s death, a jury found Mr. Trickle guilty of murder, and he was sentenced to life in prison with no possibility of parole for 50 years.