After months of searching, two attorneys have been hired to represent Shawano resident Michael Ingold in his murder case.
On June 30, attorneys Albert Moustakis and Kelli Thompson appeared remotely before Shawano-Menominee Circuit Court Judge William Kussel Jr. and requested 90 days to review the case file and get discovery evidence. The court scheduled a status conference for 3 p.m. Sept. 30 in Branch II of the Shawano County Courthouse.
Assistant District Attorney Laura Nelson said she planned to file a motion by the end of the week, and then a motion hearing will be scheduled once that happens.
Ingold, 60, will have been in the Shawano County Jail for three years on a $1 million bond by the time the status conference rolls around. He has repeatedly requested speedy trials, but he has also had attorneys quit on him. Ingold was due to stand trial in November 2024 when his attorney at the time, Julianne Lennon, withdrew, and the court has been searching for attorneys ever since, a task made more difficult because the charge was a homicide.
Lennon took on the case in April 2023, taking over after Christopher Froehlich withdrew May 9, 2023, after being appointed Oct. 18, 2022.
The criminal complaint against Ingold states that at 4:13 a.m. June 25, 2022, the Shawano County Sheriff’s Department received a 911 call from Ingold, where he stated that he woke up and checked on his girlfriend, only to find her deceased.
An autopsy showed that Sheila A. Laudon, who was 59 at the time, was strangled to death.
Ingold told the deputies that he got home at 6:30 p.m., talked with the victim, turned on the television and fell asleep on the couch, the complaint said. He stated he woke up around 2:30 a.m. and heard the victim in the kitchen saying that she was getting a beer. He then claimed that he woke up again at 4:01 a.m. and found her deceased in the bedroom.
Detectives received the autopsy report of the victim’s death on July 21, 2022, stating that the cause of death was manual strangulation.
On July 27, 2022, two detectives interviewed Ingold at the sheriff’s department, told Ingold that the victim died from strangulation and that the detectives believed that he caused it. Ingold responded, saying, “No it’s not, no it’s not, I didn’t touch her,” according to the complaint. Ingold acknowledged he and Laudon were the only two people in the house but continued to deny touching her, according to the complaint.
If convicted, Ingold faces life in prison if convicted of first-degree intentional homicide with a domestic abuse modifier.
lpulaski@newmedia-wi.com
Categories
