APPLETON, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — An Outagamie County judge has denied the request for a new trial from Alexander Kraus, a 23-year-old serving two life sentences for killing his grandparents in 2019.
Kraus was convicted on two counts of first-degree intentional homicide in 2022.
“I think the jury was reasonable in their decision based on the totality of the evidence,” said Outagamie County Judge Mitchell J. Metropulos. “(The) defect plea did not apply.”
Kraus was 17 when he killed his grandparents, Dennis and Letha Kraus, in their Grand Chute home on April 14, 2019. Kraus told police he planned to shoot up Neenah High School, where he attended, and killed his grandparents to gain access to their guns.
The defense attorney argued Kraus to be incompetent at the time of the crime, citing testimony at trial from three experts who argued that “Kraus suffered from a mental disease or defect, that he could not conform his behavior to the law, and that he did not appreciate the wrongfulness of his conduct as a result,” according to the motion for a new trial filed by the defense attorney.
In the motion, the defense attorney noted that the three experts agreed he had been diagnosed with autism at a young age and “was suffering from psychosis with delusional thoughts” when he committed the crime. It pointed to the flaws and disorganization in the plan as evidence of incompetency, or NGI (not guilty by reason of insanity).
The state argued he demonstrated competency by forming a plan, including how to avoid apprehension.
“There was a very specific plan to kill his grandparents in order to access the guns that they owned,” said Outagamie County District Attorney Melinda Tempelis. “And he was very aware of how wrong it was.”
Kraus called 911 and confessed to police immediately after shooting his grandparents.
The motion filed by the defense attorney indicated he had ineffective assistance of counsel in the initial trial. Defense attorney Erica Bauer said that was a typo, that there was not ineffective assistance of counsel in the initial trial.
In Wisconsin, 17-year-olds are treated as adults in criminal proceedings.
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