A bizarre criminal case which began nearly four years ago when three young men dug up the body of a young woman recently killed in a motorcycle accident has reached conclusion. It took a 12 member Grant County jury approximately 45 minutes Thursday morning to find a Mt. Horeb man guilty of being a party to attempted third degree sexual assault. The case involved 24-year-old Alexander Grunke who attempted to dig up the grave of a Cassville woman in September of 2006 to have sex with her corpse. The case was heard by visiting Vernon County Judge Michael Rosborough. A pre-sentencing investigation has been ordered, and must be completed by September 2nd. Sentencing will be held at a later date.
Grunke had previously been found guilty in March of last year by a Grant County jury on charges of criminal damage to a cemetery and theft. Two other men in the incident have already had their cases resolved. Alexander Grunke’s brother Nicholas Grunke of Mt. Horeb was found guilty by a jury of attempted third degree sexual assault, of criminal damage to a cemetery and theft. The 24 year-old Grunke was sentenced to two-years in prison and three-years of extended supervision. Twenty-three-year old Dustin Radke of Dodgeville pleaded no contest to a charge of attempted third degree sexual assault. He was then found guilty by then-Grant County Judge George Curry on the charge.
The three were initially convicted of lesser charges in connection with the crime, but the trial judge and an appeals court ruled that the attempted sexual assault charge could not be made, because state statute does not define sex with a corpse as a criminal act. The Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled in July 2008 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.
WGLR contributed to this report