Family woke up to man stabbing his wife and dragging her through the house as she screamed for her life

Mehdi Badaoui (Dakota County Jail).

A Minnesota man will spend two decades behind bars after he repeatedly stabbed his wife and dragged her across the house because he thought she was cheating on him.

Mehdi Badaoui, 53, was sentenced on Wednesday to 20 years in prison after he pleaded guilty in March to attempted first-degree murder, the Dakota County Attorney's Office said.

A probable cause arrest affidavit stated the Farmington Police Department responded to a home around 8:30 a.m. on April 15, 2025, for a domestic assault. Dispatchers heard a woman screaming that she had been stabbed and couldn't move.

When cops arrived, they encountered Badaoui, who had blood on his hands. Officers found the victim lying on her side in a pool of blood. She was suffering from 10 stab wounds on the side of her body, including to her neck and armpit.

The victim told cops her husband attacked her because he believed she was unfaithful to him. She said she was able to protect herself and called 911 after he stopped attacking her. She also stated he had beaten her and threatened to stab her on multiple occasions.

Paramedics rushed the victim to the hospital, where she needed immediate surgery.

Family members told cops that they woke up to yelling and saw Badaoui stabbing the victim. They witnessed him drag the victim through the kitchen and into a bedroom.

"Witness pleaded with Defendant to stop, but he stated he was going to kill Victim and go to jail," cops wrote.

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In a statement he made after receiving his Miranda rights, Badaoui said he suspected his wife of cheating on him, so he placed a GPS tracking device in her car. He said he saw her going to a place other than her work that morning, so he drove to where she was and confronted her.

The victim drove home, where they began arguing. He claimed she began calling him names, so he picked up a knife and began "hitting" her with it after she scratched him in the face. Badaoui said he stabbed the victim three or four times.

Cops found a bloody pocketknife on the kitchen counter. Badaoui was arrested and taken to the Dakota County Jail, where he's been ever since.

"This was a brutal act of domestic violence that could have resulted in a loss of life," Dakota County Attorney Kathy Keena said in a statement. "Today's sentencing reflects our commitment to victims and holding offenders accountable."