A Wisconsin man who killed his mother and his stepfather in an unprovoked attack will spend the rest of his life behind bars.
Oconto County Judge Jay Conley handed David Steinmetz, 29, two consecutive life terms without the possibility of parole for the shooting death of Lori Steinmetz, 55, and Paul Brennan, 75. Steinmetz pleaded no contest to two counts of intentional homicide.
“You killed the two people that loved you the most. This case gives new meaning to the expression ‘senseless offenses.’ I realize in the ‘real world’ one life sentence without the possibility of extended supervision is enough as far as it will confine you for the rest of your life. But I’m making it consecutive simply to make the point that these are two, separate, distinct human beings; two, separate, distinct lives that you took; and I’m going to administer two, separate, and distinct penalties for what you did to them. It’s simply a horrible, horrible case,” said Conley during the sentencing hearing, according to Fox 11 News.
On Oct. 2, 2022, officers responded to a home in Little Suamico after receiving a distress call about two unresponsive individuals outside the residence. Upon arrival, they found the bodies of both victims with multiple gunshot wounds. According to prosecutors, a day before the fatal incident, 55-year-old Lori Steinmetz and 75-year-old Brennan had gone to rent a car to pick up the defendant, whose vehicle broke down in the southern part of the state.
After the couple returned home, Steinmetz, who told police he had been under the influence of meth daily and had not slept in five days, started hallucinating. He told authorities a voice told him he had to take a life or his life would be taken. After much thinking, while sitting in his car, the defendant decided to walk up to his mother and stepfather and shoot them to death. Later, he was arrested in the parking lot of Thompson’s Market, reported We Are Greenbay.com.
Steinmetz apologized to the court and claimed he didn’t know what he was doing. However, prosecutors argued the defendant was a known entity to authorities who had a tumulus relationship with Brennan and had a history of threatening his mother’s life.
The judge ordered Steinmetz to pay a restitution in the amount of $23,011.11.
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