Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
DONALD RICK hangs his head low during a Thursday Iron County Court hearing where he entered a guilty plea to murdering Lisa Waldros, 52, of Kimball, Wis.
By RALPH ANSAMI
Hurley - Donald Rick admitted Thursday to murdering Lisa Waldros in the fire that destroyed the Bear Trap Inn in Saxon.
Rick, 44, who was living in Saxon at the time of the March 12 fire, entered a guilty plea to first-degree murder in Iron County Court. Five additional counts will be dismissed, but read into the record at sentencing on April 13.
"I understand my conduct caused caused her death," Rick said when Iron County Judge Patrick Madden asked him if he understood the elements needed for a conviction.
A jury trial had been scheduled for the week of Feb. 13, but Rick gave up that right with his guilty plea. The count carries life in prison.
There is no death penalty in Wisconsin.
Thursday had been scheduled for motion hearings at 10 a.m., but it turned into a plea hearing when an agreement was reached between Rick's attorney, Courtney Latzig, and special prosecutor Richard Dufour, with the Attorney's General's office.
The judge ordered a pre-sentence investigation be completed within 90 days and Latzig will have the opportunity to request a PSI of her own.
Rick held his head low and sobbed at times during the proceedings as numerous members of the Waldros family watched from the courtroom benches.
Thursday's hearing was about 15 minutes long, but the sentencing hearing, where members of the family and Rick will be invited to speak, will likely be longer and more emotional.
Rick murdered Waldros, 52, of Kimball, while robbing the tavern after it closed.
He told investigators he stabbed Waldros in burglarizing the Bear Trap, then burned the building to make it look like she had died in the fire.
Charges of mutilation of a corpse, arson, armed burglary, armed robbery and possession of a firearm, all as a repeat offender, will be read into the record.
Rick is being held in a federal prison in Green Bay. Latzig requested Thursday he be transferred to the Iron County Jail in Hurley, but Madden said Rick is under control of the Department of Corrections.
The body was found in the rubble in bathroom area of the Bear Trap two days after the fire.
The fire occurred around 3:20 a.m. on a Saturday. The state fire marshal's office arrived later that day to begin its investigation.
Late that morning, Iron County Sheriff's Department deputy Eric Snow was approached by a Saxon resident, Ray Smith, who was bitten by a dog that was being walked by Rick. Snow then went to Rick's residence to talk about the dog bite, and Rick quickly changed the conversation to the fire, according to the criminal complaint.
An autopsy revealed Waldros had been stabbed five times in the neck, with one wound severing her jugular vein.
A special agent with the state fire marshal's office said he noticed an odor on the victim's clothing that he believed to be an accelerant. The clothing tested positive for gasoline, according to the state crime laboratory.
Rick, a convicted sex offender, was apprehended shortly after the fire and was then detained in jail for probation violations relating to the prison time he served for the assault of a child 13 years ago.
Two guns were found in a search of his residence in Saxon, a violation of his probation.
On April 14, deputy Jason Geach and two special agents with the Department of Justice interviewed Rick, who said he had gone to the Lac du Flambeau casino that Friday night with his girlfriend, where they lost all of their money.
While driving home, Rick decided he would commit a robbery to regain cash, deciding to rob the Bear Trap after closing time.
Rick, who was living only about a block from the tavern, put on a mask and took a folded hunting knife with a four-inch blade with him to return.
During the robbery, Waldros pulled down Rick's mask, identified him, and he dropped the knife, leading to a scuffle in which Rick received a slight injury, the complaint says.
Rick then recovered the knife and stabbed Waldros in the throat, took the money from the bag and returned home.
He then got some gas and poured it on Waldros, the pool table and the floor, found a lighter and started the blaze.
Jessica Carli, 41, of Saxon, has been charged with aiding a felon as a party to a crime in connection with the fatal fire. Her next court date is a pre-trial conference on Dec. 19. Dufour is also prosecuting that case.
