Billy Nash stabbed his wife 70 times as kids watched

The criminal complaint released this evening is grim: Billy Nash, 46, has been charged with first-degree murder in the death of his wife, Pauline, 42, after allegedly stabbing her at least 70 times with a paring knife, and later a butcher knife, while in a rage early Friday morning over how she was spending the family's money. Two of the couple's children saw it happen.

Here's what two of the Nash kids told the cops when they came to the family's duplex on the 2400 block of Penn Avenue North: They were awakened by their mother's screams at about 3 a.m. In her bedroom, they saw their father laying into her with his fists. One of them, 18-year-old Brittany, ran from the house and called 911. The other, 13 years old, stayed and saw Billy stab her over and over. She was finally able to drag her father off her mother by his neck, and escape with the knife.

Here's what the police say they saw when they arrived: The kids meeting them at the front door with their recounting of the events; the bloodied body of their mother in her bedroom; and Bill Nash, covered in blood, saying: "I'm sorry sergeant that you had to come out here tonight for this. ... She was driving me crazy. I killed the bitch."

Pauline was taken to North Memorial hospital, where she died.

The cops arrested Billy. They read him his rights. And they learned this: He'd been arrested and released just the week before on a domestic abuse charge for attacking his wife. Despite a "no contact" order, he'd gone back to their house anyway.

You can read the full criminal complaint against him here. He's in the Hennepin County jail tonight, awaiting a court appearance on Monday.

Pauline Nash is the 14th homicide victim in Minneapolis this year. Here are the others:

• March 30: Kenneth Sims, 21
• March 23: Robert Blake Castonguay, 26
• March 17: James E. King Jr., 20
• February 27: Alisha Neely, 17
• February 13: Drew Heinkle, 25
• February 4: Michael Fonta, 45
• January 17: Marvin Ray Maynard, 16
• January 20: Orlando Keith Nunn, 21
• January 8: Walter Lee Dolley Jr., 19
• January 6: Abdifatah Warfa, 28
• January 6: Mohamed Warfa, 30
• January 6: Anwar Mohammed, 31
• January 2: Dontae D. Johnson, 31