Gerald Turner PC: Fox 11 Online
FOND DU LAC, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – Gerald Turner will seek another psychiatric review, as the state tries to keep the notorious “Halloween killer” at a secure mental health facility, since his prison term has been completed.
Turner, 73, was convicted of sexually assaulting and killing 9-year-old Lisa Ann French while she was trick-or-treating in Fond du Lac in 1973. Her body was found a few days later, in Taycheedah.
With his prison term complete, the state filed suit in 2018, seeking to have Turner deemed a sexually violent offender, and ordered to remain at a secure mental health facility under the Chapter 980 sexual predator law. His attorneys have opposed the request, and want him released. Four years later, that process is still going on. Fond du Lac County Judge Anthony Nehls was assigned to the case earlier this month.
During a status conference Thursday, defense attorney Evan Weitz said while Turner was evaluated by a state Dept. of Health Services psychiatrist, Turner will pursue his right to have a second, independent examination.
Also, Weitz said he anticipates filing several motions on unspecified legal points. Those are due in early February. Assistant Attorney General Devra Ayala then has a few weeks to file reply briefs ahead of a March 3 hearing.
Turner and the attorneys appeared at the hearing Thursday through video conferencing. Turner answered one question, consenting to the March hearing being done remotely as well, but otherwise didn’t comment.
Turner is currently held at the Sand Ridge Secure Treatment Center in Mauston.
After serving 17 years in prison for a 38-year sentence, Turner was released from prison in 1992 but returned to prison that same year following a court decision challenging calculation of time served. Turner was again released on parole in 1998 but returned to prison in 2003 for 15 years after pornographic images were found on his computer.
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