Thursday, March 24, 2016

Keith Kutska; Wisconsin; Murder or suicide? He has appealed to Wisconsin’s Third District Court of Appeals seeking to overturn a judge’s decision to not grant him a new trial for the murder of Tom Monfils. "In a July hearing, Kutska's new team of lawyers argued that his lawyer at trial and his appeals lawyer were incompetent because they relied too heavily on findings by pathologist Dr. Helen Young, who investigated Monfils' death. Young concluded major injuries on Monfils' body must have occurred before he was put in the pulp vat, indicating he had been beaten. They also argued a theory that Monfils committed suicide wasn’t properly presented at Kutska's trial and that a detective investigating the case bullied witnesses into giving false statements."


"Attorneys for Keith Kutska have appealed to Wisconsin’s Third District Court of Appeals seeking to overturn a judge’s decision to not grant him a new trial for the murder of Tom Monfils. Kutska is one of six men convicted of conspiring to kill Monfils in 1992. Monfils, 35, was found dead in a pulp vat at the former James River mill with a 50-pound weight tied to his neck. An appeal brief filed on March 18 argues Kutska, 64, was denied a new trial in January because the judge did not properly consider all the new evidence his attorneys presented during arguments last year.........Kutska’s defense team requested Bayorgeon to consider granting Kutska a new trial because he was ineffectively represented in the original trial and convicted based on erroneous evidence, perjured testimony and official misconduct. In a July hearing, Kutska's new team of lawyers argued that his lawyer at trial and his appeals lawyer were incompetent because they relied too heavily on findings by pathologist Dr. Helen Young, who investigated Monfils' death. Young concluded major injuries on Monfils' body must have occurred before he was put in the pulp vat, indicating he had been beaten. They also argued a theory that Monfils committed suicide wasn’t properly presented at Kutska's trial and that a detective investigating the case bullied witnesses into giving false statements."
http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/story/news/2016/03/22/monfils-appeal-kutska/82119752/