HUDSON (WI)
Pioneer Press
BY KEVIN HARTER
Pioneer Press
An unusual court proceeding beginning Monday may finally offer answers, if not justice, to relatives of two men killed in 2002 at a Hudson, Wis., funeral home.
The hearing could mark the close of a bizarre case that began with the shooting deaths of the men, followed by an intense investigation and the shocking news that a well-known priest had hanged himself after being questioned about the killings.
The Feb. 5, 2002, slayings of Dan O'Connell, 39, and James Ellison, 22, at the O'Connell Family Funeral Home have sparked a steady stream of rumors and theories in Hudson, a growing riverside community of about 10,000 that hadn't had a murder in more than a decade. Now residents have a chance to separate the fact from the fiction.
And to some extent, it will be the community that decides this case in over-the-coffee conversations.
No jury will take part in the so-called John Doe hearing, overseen by St. Croix County Judge Eric Lundell. After reviewing the evidence, the judge will issue an opinion stating whether the Rev. Ryan Erickson was likely responsible for the killings or if the matter is too murky to pin the blame on anyone.