| Patrick Thielsen was sentenced Thursday to life in prison without the possibility of parole for raping one woman, and murdering another. But that sentence didn't come without opposition. Thielsen made motions on his own to try and send the case back to trial. Patrick Thielsen drafted four motions without the help of his attorneys. In them he tried to convince the judge that his attorneys coerced him into pleading guilty to the charges of first degree murder and second degree rape. Last Tuesday, Patrick Thielsen entered a Brown County courtroom and admitted that last fall he raped one woman, and killed another 26-year-old Kelly Ryan. But now he says he was coerced into signing the plea agreement and wanted to withdraw his guilty plea. Judge Jack VanWold let Thielsen take the stand. But after he heard the testimony, judge VanWold ruled Thielsen understood the plea agreement, knowingly signed it and didn't have a right to withdraw the plea. "I think the defendant had some time to think and he knew he was looking at spending the rest of his life in the penitentiary, and i believe he wanted to at the last minute do whatever he could to prohibit that from happening," Brown County States Attorney Mark McNeary said. For Kelly Ryan's family, this brings closure to a year's worth of pain. "As far as I'm concerned he got what he deserved, that's about all I can say," Kelly Ryan's Father Jerry said. "Hopefully we will be able to move forward and not lose sight of our wonderful daughter, but you know, life has to go on, for everybody but her, and we have to live with that." Before Thielsen was sentenced, members of Kelly Ryan's family were allowed to make statements. It was very emotional in the courtroom, and the judge even broke down during sentencing when he said that Thielsen took advantage of a single mother, and left a little girl motherless. Kelly Ryan was murdered last November, so this sentence brings a close to over a year's worth of hearings. The states attorney does expect Thielsen to appeal the ruling. By Chris Studer |
|