Rudy's lawyer drops out

By Matt Ollwerther - Marshfield News-Herald

NEILLSVILLE -- Shaun Rudy's public defender said Monday he won't represent him, citing an ethical conflict.

William Poss made the decision Friday, when his former client was charged with two counts of first-degree homicide and mutilating a corpse, he said. He declined to elaborate about the conflict.

"I feel unfortunate I have to get off (the case), but there's no way to stop it," Poss said Monday.

Rudy, 23, of Thorp fatally shot his 21-year-old wife, Christine, on Nov. 12, cut up her body and threw her remains in the Chippewa River two or three days later, according to a criminal complaint.

She was six months pregnant at the time.

Shaun Rudy has been charged with murder in the death of both Christine and the fetus.

He is scheduled for a plea hearing today in Clark County Circuit Court on unrelated charges of possession of drug paraphernalia and a firearm as a felon, according to online court records.

He was arrested for those charges Nov. 18, four days after he reported his wife missing to the Thorp Police Department, according to court records. One of Rudy's friends called Stanley police Nov. 19, setting the Clark County Sheriff's Department into action.

They executed more than half a dozen search warrants during the investigation, many of them Nov. 19, according to court documents.

Getting Rudy a new public defender could take some time, Poss said.

"It's hard to say with a case like this," he said.

An average private attorney might do only one homicide case in a lifetime, but his office does them all the time, Poss said, and the department could have to hire someone quite a distance away. Poss' office is in Black River Falls.

Referring to a "tremendous" amount of information in documents released Friday, Clark County District Attorney Darwin Zwieg said, "We believe we've covered the bases at this point."

Rudy remains in the Clark County Jail.

[Next Page] [Previous]