Richard Sotka exits a Brown County courtroom July 14, 2023. PC: Fox 11 Online
GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — With the autopsy reports not yet completed, no trial date was set Friday for a man accused of killing two women on the city’s east side.
Richard Sotka, 48, is charged with fatally stabbing Rhonda Cegelski, 58, of Green Bay, and Paula O’Connor, 53, of Bellevue. Their bodies were discovered Jan. 29 at a duplex on Elkay Lane on the city’s east side.
The parties were last in court in May, when Friday’s hearing was scheduled. Attorneys had said they planned to set a trial date during that hearing. However, without the reports on the two autopsies, that didn’t happen. The case returns to court Aug. 21.
Deputy District Attorney Dana Johnson said the reports are expected to be done within about a week. That will give the parties time to review them before the next hearing.
According to a criminal complaint, Sotka admitted to the murders. He went to the residence and told police he was ‘humiliated’ at the scene there, so he killed the women.
He also faces criminal damage to property charges for allegedly cutting off his electronic monitoring bracelet while fleeing, as well as bail jumping counts.
Sotka was arrested in Mississippi County, Ark., the same day the bodies were discovered and waived extradition to Wisconsin on Feb. 6. Brown County Sheriff’s deputies traveled to Arkansas to bring him back to Wisconsin.
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