HUDSON (WI)
Grand Forks Herald
Associated Press
HUDSON, Wis. - A prosecutor will hold secret hearings to dig deeper into who shot two funeral home workers to death more than three years ago.
St. Croix County District Attorney Eric Johnson plans so-called "John Doe" proceedings Oct. 3-5 at the request of the victims' families.
Johnson said he will seek a legal finding from a judge on whether someone is responsible for the killings. He would not elaborate but said he would release the hearing transcripts when the proceedings end.
Police have finished their investigation into the February 2002 slayings of funeral home director Dan O'Connell and his intern, James Ellison. They were shot in the O'Connell Family Funeral Home. Hudson Police Chief Richard Trende has said the killings weren't random and the motive was personal.
Detectives questioned the Rev. Ryan Erickson about the slayings in 2004 as part of a separate probe into an allegation involving minors. He was working at a Catholic church in Hudson at the time of the killings.