The state Supreme Court has ruled that sex with a corpse is indeed illegal in Wisconsin, reinstating criminal charges against three young men accused of digging up a corpse to have sex with it. The men went to a cemetery in Cassville two years ago to rob the grave of a young woman who had just died in a motorcycle crash. The high court ruled that state law DOES cover necrophilia. The ruling reinstates third-degree attempted sexual assault charges against twin brothers Nicholas and Alexander Grunke and Dustin Radke, all aged 22. The charges carry a punishment of up to 10 years in prison.
The three were convicted of lesser charges in connnection with the crime, but the trial judge and an appeals court ruled that the attempted sexual assualt charge could not be made, because state statute does not define sex with a corpse as a criminal act. State Senator Dale Schultz welcomes the decision, since he'd drafted legislation to address the issue. Schultz says the court's clarifying decision now makes that effort irrelevent.
Also pleased with the high court's decision is Sgt. James Kopp, one of the officers who investigated the case in 2006. “I think they made the appropriate decision,” Kopp said. “There's some sick people out there,” he said of Radke and the Grunke brothers, whose case now returns to Grant County court. Kopp says the crime was clearly premiditated, noting that the three men stopped at a local Wal-Mart to purchase condoms on their way to the crime scene.
AUDIO: Bob Hague reports (1:40 MP3)
