Green Bay Press-Gazette from Green Bay, Wisconsin • Page 2

A-2 Sunday. October 8, 1995 Green Bay Press-Gazette 7TH Monfils trial at a glance 1 A i iff kv- V- Prosecutors say: On Nov. 10, 1992, Tom Monfils, a James River paper rniltworker, called Green Bay ponce to report that coworker Keith Kutska planned to steal a mil extension cord. Kutska was suspended from work lor five days, after he refused to open his duffel bag for mill security guards alerted by police. Kutska jot an audio tape copy of the police tip, Identified the caller as Monfils and repeatedly played the tape for others at the miD.

Kutska and others confronted Monfils at work Nov. 21, 1992, and one or more of them beat Monfils. His body was found the next day in a paper pulp vat Defendants: Keith Kutska, Dale Basten, Mike Him, Mike Johnson, Rey Moore and Mike From A-1 Lepak Monfils was missing for a day when Lepak heard someone he believes it was Piaskowski accuse Him of having kidnapped Monfils, but it was a joke, and everyone laughed, Lepak said. When Kutska spoke of hunting and trying to "bag a Monfils," he was only joking about trying to prove Monfils had informed on him, not about harming him, Lepak said. "He was making cracks like that all morning," Lepak said of Kutska.

And Lepak said he himself was speaking in anger but serious when he told co-workers, "I'd threaten to blow his ass away" if Monfils informed on him the way he had on Kutska. Lepak. 36, of Pulaski told the jury Friday that Kutska asked him and Piaskowski to act as witnesses when Kutska confronted Monfils about tipping police that Kutska planned to steal an electrical cord from the paper mill. Kutska wanted the witnesses because he planned to take union action against Monfils. For his role in the incident, Lepak paid a $1,000 forfeiture for harassment, which is not considered a crime, and $200 for disorderly conduct.

Along with the defendants in the criminal case, Lepak and then-union president Marlin Charles are named in a wrongful death lawsuit that Monfils' widow, Lepak became increasingly concerned that Monfils killed himself, although Lepak also worried that Monfils might have been planning to hurt someone. "You read stuff like that all the time that he would come back with a gun and start shooting people," Lepak said. Despite the joking and figures of speech earlier in the day, Lepak took Moore seriously when Moore appeared to be unconcerned that Monfils was missing. While searching, Lepak approached Moore and asked him if he'd seen Monfils. Moore answered, "What are you looking for him for, he's no better than a ing scab" or something like that, Lepak said.

Sometime that Saturday, Charles told Lepak, Piaskowski and Kutska to write down what had happened in the No. 7 control booth, Lepak said. "I didn't, because I didn't think it was that important," Lepak said. But when Monfils' body showed up in the vat, Lepak realized he should take Charles' advice, he said. However, Lepak still believed at that point that Monfils' death was a suicide, he said.

Kutska was "pretty happy in the morning and into the day" because he'd gotten Monfils to admit it was his voice on the tape, but Kutska got more upset as it became apparent something had happened to Monfils, Lepak said. Lepak, Piaskowski and Kutska met at a tavern after work that day and discussed what had happened, but they didn't get together to "cook up a story," Lepak said. Press-Gazette photo by Joan Hendricks Lepak on the stand: Defense attorney Avram Berk, right, representing Dale Basten, questions former millworker Randy Lepak about court documents Saturday. Press-Gazette A GANNETT NEWSPAPER Main office: 435-4411 or (800) 444-0007 Susan, filed in the spring of 1993. Lepak and Charles were fired from the mill late last month in connection with the incident.

Other witnesses have testified in the trial that Kutska played a tape of the police tip throughout the mill, and many co-workers were angry at Monfils for having informed on Kutska. Prosecutors and police believe that a second confrontation took place at the mill, possibly within 20 minutes of the first one, and that workers beat Monfils into unconsciousness and dumped him into a pulp vat. His body was found there the next day with a weight tied to William T.Nusbsum president and publisher Claude J. Werder editor Michael Prazma director James M. Lobas director Sharon Holllngsworth Denise Handrick Here are answers to questions readers Laurie Holloway managing editor, 431 -8325 We welcome your news Dps, comments and concerns about our news coverage.

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to 7:30 p.m., Saturday and Sunday 5:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Please leave a message after hours. WEEKLY SUBSCRIPTION RATES (daily): Carrier route Motor route SINGLE COPY RATES: Dairy .50 cents Sunday .50 USA TODAY asked tion came up during the course of disciplinary hearing against Kutska for failing to stop for the guard and open his duffel bag. (Kutska was suspended for five days.) Kutska learned through conversations with then-union president Marlin Charles that the Green Bay Police Department routinely records such calls.

Kutska asked the police for a copy of the audio tape and eventually received it in exchange for $5 and a blank tape. Correction Paperworker Al DeBauche testified Friday he overheard a threat against Tom Monfils from Keith Kutska, but he didn't recall the threat (until he was being interviewed by James River paper mill officials. He recalled it himself, not because those officials reminded him of the. threat. An article Saturday contained incorrect information.

The Press-Gazette corrects factual errors promptly and courteously. If you have a correction or clarification, please call the metro desk at 431-8341. change early in the process. A defendant is allowed to request one change in lawyers, Schultz said. Normally, one public defender is assigned a case, but the state allowed Mannenbach to assist Parent.

The two lawyers are in private practice. They are on a rotating list of lawyers to defend homicide cases. Parent was the next name on the rotation when Moore asked for the change, Schultz said. Learning starts Educator Kathy Koch believes children who are motivated to learn: Find school meaningful and worthwhile. They see that learning is important, and parents should talk about the ways school can make a difference.

"The kids who are really interested are the kids who find it makes sense," said Koch, at her workshop Saturday. Are willing to strive for Q. Are we paying for the defense lawyers In the Tom Monfils trial? A. Defendant Rey Moore's lawyers, Robert Parent and Peter Mannenbach, are paid by the state, said Hank Schultz, head of the Wisconsin Public Defenders office in Green Bay. "The money comes out of the state public defender budget at $40 an hour," Schultz said.

Another lawyer was assigned the case, but Moore requested a Success This tip struck parent Judy Howard of Allouez, who said she wants to help her children, 16-year-old Christopher and 12-year-old Emily, with everything. "I actually will have to take a istep back," Howard said. "It will teach that making mistakes is a part of life." Have fun with your kids. You get to know your kids best when you're having fun with them, Koch said. "When you know your Ikids, it's easier to motivate.

them," Jshe said. "You kn'qw what makes them tick, gives them joy. Then you can plug into that." Encourage their curiosity. Set specific goals with chil- dren, not for them, so they have a sense of ownership of those goals. Believe in your children and yourself.

"You can only believe in your kids to the extent that you believe in yourself," Koch said. CLASSIFIED: 431-8300 Information about our classified advertising classifications and policies is on the first page of our daily classified section. Our classified department is open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. weekdays and 7:30 a.m.

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weekdays! Questions? Do you have questions about the Tom Monfils trial or how the court system works during a trial? Call 436-7838 Monday through Saturday, and we'll find the answers. Piaskowski. Charge: First-degree intentional homicide. All six defendants are charged with being party to that crime, a provision covering those who aid and abet the commission of a crime or take part in a conspiracy to commit a crime. Penalty: Life imprisonment Source: Brown County court documents 43S E.

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Member Associated Press and Audit Bureau of Circulation. his neck. Lepak said he, Kutska and Piaskowski confronted Monfils with the tape in the No. 7 paper machine's control booth to get him to admit that was his voice on the tape. After getting that admission, they criticized him for trying to get a fellow union member into trouble and then left, Lepak said.

No one harmed him or even threatened him, he added. Lepak then returned to his own work station, and he didn't hear until later that Monfils was missing from his work station. Lepak helped search the mill that afternoon, he said. As time passed, The other defendants have hired their own defense attorneys. Q.

How did Keith Kutska know there was a tape of the police calls that Monfils made and who told him? A. A trial brief filed in Brown County Court by prosecutors says: Company officials told Keith Kutska that a guard who tried to stop him leaving the mill was acting on an anonymous tip to police by a mill employee. That informa with motivation knowledge. They'll want to put forth more effort, study harder and be more I enthusiastic because they see the importance of learning. Value themselves, as well as learning, and believe in a future.

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