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

After 21 months after Kristen Trickle’s death in July 2021, Mr. Trickle was charged with murder. A Kansas man, who killed his wife, 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. After talking to Mr. Trickle, Sergeant Brandon Hauptman suspected the husband’s involvement in the death.

However, the report added that three days after Ms. Kristen’s death, Dr. Lyle Noordhoek, the coroner, declared that it was 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 has revealed that Mr. Trickle cashed in on two life insurance policies for his wife totaling over $120,000. The officers said that he spent nearly $2,000 on a life-size sex doll just two days after receiving the insurance payout.

In a conversation with CBS News’ 48 hours, Detective Joshua “JB” Burkholder said, “There’s a mourning process that I think everyone needs to go through — should go through when a loved one dies — and to have him ordering this type of doll just months after his wife’s death was concerning.”

On hearing about the doll, Kristen Trickle’s aunt, Delynn Rice said, “I was just appalled that he would use Kristen’s life insurance money for a sex doll. It just was like he bought a replacement of her with her money.”

In addition, Aaron Cunningham, Assistant Ellis County Attorney revealed that Mr. Trickle spent all $120,000 of the insurance money in about eight months.

Apart from buying the life-size sex doll, Mr. Trickle also spent thousands of dollars on video games, paying off debts, and buying music equipment in hopes of becoming a performer. During his trial in September 2023, prosecutors told jurors about his sex doll purchase.

This is when his mother, Tina Kreutzer, took the stand as a defense witness, saying 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.