Kim Fundingsland/MDN Convicted murderer Richie Wilder Jr. was sentenced Monday for his failed escape from the Ward County Jail in August 2015. He also appeared at a hearing that will decide whether he will be able to have contact with his two children.

Convicted murderer Richie Wilder Jr. will serve five years for trying to escape from the Ward County Jail on Aug. 25, 2016.

Wilder pleaded guilty to escape, a Class C felony, in district court before Judge Stacy Louser on Monday. Louser agreed to follow the state’s sentencing recommendation and made the sentence concurrent with the life without parole sentence he is serving for the murder of his ex-wife, Angila Wilder.

Richie Wilder Jr. used the metal piece from a broom head to chisel away the molding from a window in his cell. He was caught on security footage disposing of the window molding pieces in his cell’s toilet.

The state agreed to dismiss a felony charge of possession of a weapon in a correctional facility against Wilder under the terms of the plea deal.

Wilder’s wife, Cynthia Louise Wilder, is currently facing a charge that she conspired to help him murder Angila Wilder in November 2015 and was an accomplice to his escape attempt in August 2016. Cynthia Wilder is being held at the Ward County Jail.

In another hearing, Richie Wilder’s lawyer argued that Judge Gary Lee should not have banned him from having any contact with his daughter and son with Angila Wilder. Lee sentenced Wilder to life without parole in May and, as part of the sentence, ordered that he never again have contact with the two children. The girl was 12 at the time of the sentencing hearing and the boy was 6.

Defense attorney Raissa Carpenter argued that it was illegal for Lee to order no contact with the youngsters as part of a criminal judgment. Ward County Deputy State’s Attorney Kelly Dillon had said the order was justified under the state’s new Marsy’s Law, which protects victim rights. Carpenter argued that no one asserted Marsy’s Law rights on behalf of the two children and state law requires the rights be asserted before they take effect. Carpenter also argued Marsy’s Law cannot legally apply because it was not in effect at the time Wilder murdered the children’s mother. Courts have ruled that laws cannot be applied retroactively.

The two children were in the custody of their stepmother, Cynthia Wilder, until mid-May 2017, when Cynthia Wilder was arrested on the murder conspiracy charge.

Ashley Beall, a guardian ad litem for the Wilder children, testified during the hearing before Lee on Monday that there was a guardianship and adoption proceeding regarding the two children last week. Lee would not let Beall testify as to whether the children want continued contact with their father or not.

Dillon said the children’s maternal grandmother has been appointed their legal guardian. At a hearing earlier this summer, Dillon told a judge that the 3-year-old daughter of Richie Wilder Jr. and Cynthia Wilder is being cared for by her paternal grandfather. All of the children in the case are now living out of state.

Lee said he will issue a written ruling on the matter at a later date.

Richie Wilder Jr. stabbed Angila Wilder to death in November 2015 at her residence in Minot. He and Angila Wilder had frequently battled over custody of their children – a daughter from a previous relationship whom Richie Wilder had adopted and a son they had together.

Their children were staying with Richie Wilder Jr. and Cynthia Wilder at their apartment on the night of the murder. Angila Wilder’s 2-year-old son with her live-in boyfriend, Chris Jackson, was the only other present in her home on the night of the murder. The child was discovered in another room of the residence when his father came home from working an overnight shift at Walmart the following morning and called authorities when he saw his door had been kicked in. Angila Wilder was pregnant with a second child by Chris Jackson when she was murdered.

Richie Wilder Jr. is also appealing his conviction to the Supreme Court and wants another trial.