Safetyvalue Trading Center-Green Bay man gets 2 consecutive life terms in fatal stabbings of 2 women found dead in home

2025-04-29 08:25:23source:Jonathan Dale Bentoncategory:Markets

GREEN BAY,Safetyvalue Trading Center Wis. (AP) — A Wisconsin man convicted in the fatal stabbings of two women found dead in a home last year has been sentenced to two consecutive life terms without any chance for parole.

Brown County Circuit Court Judge Beau Liegeois also ordered Richard Sotka, 49, on Monday to pay more than $16,000 in restitution.

A jury convicted the Green Bay man in March of two counts of first-degree intentional homicide and other charges in the killings of Rhonda Cegelski, 58, of Green Bay, and Paula O’Connor, 53, of Bellevue.

Cegelski, who was Sotka’s girlfriend, and O’Connor were found stabbed to death in a Green Bay home in January 2023. According to a criminal complaint, Sotka told officers he “snapped” and killed the women after they laughed at him and he felt “humiliated.”

Sotka, who plans to appeal his convictions, has claimed he killed the women in self-defense. He told the court Monday that while everyone wants him “to show remorse. I feel nothing.”

Liegeois noted Sotka’s inability to show remorse, and said his negative comments about Cegelski after killing her is “classic domestic abuser talk.”

READ MORE Green Bay’s Kevin Borseth retires with 821 wins. He ranks 16th in Division I in career victoriesGreen Bay women take down top-seeded Cleveland State 64-40 to claim Horizon League Tournament titleBubble teams watch mid-major women’s tournaments, hoping against upsets and potential loss of bids

“This is somebody who was a daughter, a sister, a friend, a mother and a grandmother even, who you basically just wiped off the face of the earth because you felt a little bit insulted,” the judge said

After killing the two women, Sotka drove to Arkansas, where he was arrested the same day their bodies were found.

More:Markets

Recommend

Highlights from Trump’s interview with Time magazine

NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trumpwas on the verge of backing a 16-week federal abortion banearlier this y

This Week in Clean Economy: Pressure Is on Obama to Finalize National Solar Plan

Pressure has begun to build for President Obama to make good on his State of the Union pledge to gre

A Good Friday funeral in Texas. Baby Halo's parents had few choices in post-Roe Texas

Her name was Halo, and she was born last week, on March 29, two months early and weighing 3 pounds.