Greentop felon guilty of animal abuse, too

Lawrence "Bud" Wietholder is a twice-convicted felon.

Wietholder, a resident of Greentop, Mo., submitted Alford pleas to criminal charges of voluntary manslaughter Feb. 11 and animal abuse Feb. 15. Even though the Missouri legal system accepts Wietholder's pleas as admittance of guilt, Tim Reuschel, his defense attorney, said he believes his client is innocent.

"I'm still convinced that my client is not guilty," Reuschel said. "I think it's important to note that these were both Alford pleas. ... In an Alford plea, you are saying that I still do not believe that I am not guilty, but I agree that there is evidence against me, so I am accepting the lesser punishment."

Adair County prosecutor Mark Williams charged Wietholder and his wife JoAnn in June 2006 with eight counts of animal abuse, torture and mutilation of a live animal, class D felonies. In September, Schuyler County officials arrested Wietholder, charging him with the murder of his wife. The death certificate of Wietholder's wife read that she died of "homicide by drowning," according to the Oct. 5, 2006, issue of the Index.

The charge was amended to voluntary manslaughter, a class B felony, the same day, according to a court docket sheet.

Voluntary manslaughter, under Missouri Revised Statutes 565.023, occurs when a person "causes the death of another person under circumstances that would constitute murder in the second degree ... except that he caused the death under the influence of sudden passion arising from adequate cause; or (2) knowingly assists another in the commission of self-murder."

The first circumstance is what is mentioned in amended felony information about the charge from Schuyler County.

Reuschel said Wietholder made the right decision in pleading to voluntary manslaughter, a class B felony, even though he thinks Wietholder did not murder his wife.

"I think it's an unfortunate situation," Reuschel said. "... There was evidence against him, but I think what they would have found him guilty [in a trial situation] of is assisted suicide - which also falls under voluntary manslaughter in the state of

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Missouri. I think he made the right plea."

Williams also said he is satisfied with the outcome of the Wietholder cases. Williams brought charges against Wietholder in the animal abuse case but was not involved with the manslaughter charge because the incident took place across county lines. The case eventually moved from Schuyler County to Linn County on Wietholder's request, according to a court docket sheet.

"Because of the murder charges down there, our case was kind of downplayed," Williams said.

Williams said that although Wietholder initially was charged with eight counts of animal abuse, Reuschel requested that the counts be consolidated into one charge.

"As long as the people who are involved are satisfied, then I'm usually satisfied [with the outcome of the case]," Williams said. "It's a hard question ... [because] this time horses are the identified victims. ... Before I agreed to the plea I had a talk with Carmen Skelly, who was the lead investigator in the case, and she went back and talked to her superiors [at the Humane Society]. ... They said they were OK with it."

Members of the Humane Society of Missouri were unavailable for comment, but Williams said that even with the consolidated charge, Wietholder received the maximum sentence of four years.

Between both crimes, Wietholder has been sentenced to 14 years of jail time but the 10-year sentence overlaps the 4-year sentence entirely, for a total of 10 years. The time also includes a 15-day sentence for an Adair County third-degree assault charge, a class C misdemeanor.

Reuschel said Wietholder will be eligible for parole in the near future.

"The Adair County charges were made to run concurrently with the Schulyer County charges," Reuschel said. "He's sentenced to 10 years total, but he'll serve about four. He'll be eligible for parole as early as two years from today - the time he's already served counts towards his sentence."

An October 2006 court order from Schuyler County appointed two individuals as Wietholder's guardians and conservators, according to court documents, and in November 2006, the court gave an order for the individuals to sell some of Wietholder's property. In August 2007, Northeast Regional Medical Center filed a claim of almost $23,000 against Wietholder's estate, which was approved in November.