The Little Suamico man charged with murdering his mother and stepfather pleaded no contest to the charges Dec. 12 and is scheduled to be sentenced Feb. 20.
David Steinmetz, 29, was convicted of two counts of first-degree intentional homicide in connection with the Oct. 1, 2022, shooting deaths of his mother, Lori Steinmetz Brennan, 55, and her husband, Paul Brennan, 75. A third charge, possession of a firearm by a person convicted of a felony, was dismissed but read into the record.
The couple’s bodies were found with multiple gunshot wounds outside their home on Melissa Boulevard on the morning of Oct. 2. The investigation determined that the shootings had occurred the previous afternoon, according to the criminal complaint.
Oconto County Circuit Court Judge Jay Conley spent most of the plea hearing reviewing the charges with Steinmetz and making sure the defended understood each and every one of the constitutional rights he was surrendering by pleading no contest.
“Yes, I absolutely understand them, sir,” Steinmetz said quietly.
Conley accepted the pleas, declared Steinmetz guilty, and scheduled sentencing for 11 a.m. Feb. 20. He faces an automatic life sentence for each of the two homicides. Conley has the option of setting a date when Steinmetz might be eligible to be released from prison under extended supervision.
Steinmetz had been scheduled to enter his pleas Oct. 17 but asked for more time to think it over and talk with his attorney, Jevon Jaconi, regarding the plea agreement filed Oct. 16.
“State will argue for life sentences with no extended supervision eligibility date,” according to the plea offer letter filed with the Oconto County Clerk of Courts. The defense is free to argue for a lesser sentence and/or a parole eligibility date, the letter said.
The original complaint said that after his arrest, Steinmetz told an investigator he had been taking methamphetamines twice a day for five days, ending with an incident in which the Brennans drove to Milwaukee to pick him up after he ran out of gas.
An argument ensued when they returned to the Melissa Boulevard home that they shared, and Steinmetz left but returned and shot the couple because a voice told him to, according to the complaint.
“David stated that he had feelings that if he didn’t take his mom’s life, someone is going to take out more of his family,” the complaint said. “David stated it was like, ‘Take out one life to save 15 other lives.’”
Each victim was shot several times in the driveway of the home.
wbluhm@newmedia-wi.com
Steinmetz pleads no contest to double homicide
