Crime & Safety
Wilson Waives Preliminary Hearing
Accused ax murderer pleads not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect for killing his grandfather at his Town of Merton home.
Accused waived his preliminary hearing Monday and plead not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect for allegedly murdering his grandfather and prominent real estate developer Ronald Siepmann earlier this year.
Wilson, 17, appeared in Waukesha County Circuit Court for the first time since Aug. 31 when he was deemed competent to stand trial after spending more than two months in a state mental health institution due to a deterioration of his mental health.
Wilson is charged with killing Siepmann during a Mother’s Day family gathering at Siepmann’s Town of Merton home when he struck him in the head with an ax inside a shed on the property. Wilson’s mother discovered the body later.
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He told family members he killed Siepmann to stop a “curse” of schizophrenia in the family. Wilson is a diagnosed schizophrenic.
Wilson will appear again in court Nov. 17. No trial date has been set yet in the case.