July 2, 2015 at 4:19 p.m.
Female suspect in 2003 Rhinelander homicide accepts plea agreement
Latoya Wolf to enter plea July 30
Female suspect in 2003 Rhinelander homicide accepts plea agreement
Latoya J. Wolf, 33, charged with first-degree intentional homicide (as a party to the crime) in connection with the death of Kenneth "Punky" Wells, appeared in Branch II of Oneida County Circuit Court before Judge Michael Bloom July 2. Her public defender Chris Gramstrup appeared by telephone. When the case was called, Oneida County District Attorney Michael Schiek told Bloom that an agreement has been reached.
Schiek said the agreement requires Wolf to enter either a no contest or guilty plea. A pre-sentence investigation will be requested.
The agreement will also likely require Wolf to testify against her ex-husband, Shannon Wolf, who has also been charged in Wells' death.
Bloom set a plea hearing for 1:30 p.m. July 30. At that time the terms of the plea agreement will be announced and he will order a pre-sentence investigation. The pre-sentence report will include a sentence recommendation. The judge may go along with a sentencing recommendation made by Gramstrup and Schiek, the one in the pre-sentence investigation report, or impose any other sentence he feels is warranted.
Pre-sentence investigations usually take 45 to 60 days to complete, which means the sentencing hearing may be pushed back to late September or early October.
The maximum penalty Bloom may impose is life in prison without a chance for release on extended supervision, if she pleads to the original charge of first-degree intentional homicide.
After the hearing, Schiek declined to reveal details of the plea agreement or what charge Latoya Wolf will be pleading to on July 30.
Wells' body was recovered from the Wisconsin River behind the Trig's Riverwalk Centre on July 1, 2003. Although court records indicate Wolf first told police she had information about Wolf's death back in 2012, she was not charged until Jan. 19.
According to court documents, Wolf began giving investigators information concerning Wells' death in February 2012. Subsequent interviews were conducted as recently as March 2014. Wolf's statements are described in the criminal complaint as being very detailed and containing information that only someone who witnessed the death would be able to share.
On Jan. 23, she was interviewed by Detective Sergeant Brian Zohimsky at which time she described and demonstrated how she claims Wells was struck in the back of the head with a rock in at the hand of her former husband and eventually placed in the river. That interview was recorded and a 28-minute section of it was played at Shannon Wolf's preliminary hearing on March 6.
In the recording, Latoya Wolf is seen telling Zohimsky that Shannon Wolf struck Wells in the back of the head with a softball-size rock under the Davenport Street bridge over the Wisconsin River. She said Wells was lured under the bridge with the promise of smoking some marijuana with the couple.
Latoya said Wells fell over into her lap after he was struck. When she grabbed his head to push him back up, she got blood on the back of her hand, according to the recording. She went on to say that Shannon Wolf forced her to also strike Wells in the head with a rock, and tie a large shopping bag over his head with a heavy string around his neck. She said she protested doing the actions, but Shannon Wolf repeatedly slapped her when she did not perform the acts to his satisfaction and he had to do them himself.
"You're going to do what I tell you or you'll end up like him," Latoya claims Shannon told her.
At one point, she said Shannon Wolf held his hand over the bag on Wells' face, covering his mouth and nose. She said Wells, who was her godfather, struggled briefly and was still. At that point, Shannon jerked the rope from Wells' neck, leaving a mark, she said.
Wolf told police Wells "was still moaning" when he was placed in the river.
Once he was in the water, she told Zohimsky she turned away, and started to leave, but Shannon told her to stay or she would be next.
"I heard splashing, but I didn't look back," she told the detective.
The initial autopsy conducted by an assistant medical examiner in the Fond du Lac County Medical Examiner's office revealed that Wells died of "probable freshwater drowning."
The manner of death was ruled "undetermined."
Bloom has scheduled a 7-day trial for Shannon Wolf starting Thursday, Oct. 15 and running through Friday, Oct. 23.
Jamie Taylor may be reached at [email protected].
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