Courts

Sackett murder trial remains set for October

Published

5 years ago

September 20, 2019

Brad Williams

FILE - Erik Sackett (left) and lawyer in La Crosse County court.

A La Crosse County murder trial is on track for the last two weeks of October.

The final pre-trial hearing in the Erik Sackett case was held Friday, and lasted less than 10 minutes.

Sackett is accused of killing his ex-girlfriend, Erin Somvilai, last year, and trying to hide her body in a Vernon County lake.

Twenty-eight jury candidates are scheduled to be interviewed for the trial beginning Oct. 21.

Two alternate jurors will be seated, because the trial is expected to last more than one week.

In the past month, Sackett’s attorney succeeded in blocking some evidence obtained through dog-sniffing, and in getting the court to allow testimony that a La Crosse doctor might be an alternate suspect in Somvilai’s death.

Related Topics:La Crose murder murder murder trial sackett

Brad Williams

A native of Prairie du Chien, Brad graduated from UW - La Crosse and has worked in radio news for more than 30 years, mostly in the La Crosse area. He regularly covers local courts and city and county government. Brad produces the features "Yesterday in La Crosse" and "What's Buried on Brad's Desk." He also writes the website "Triviazoids," which finds odd connections between events that happen on a certain date, and he writes and performs with the local comedy group Heart of La Crosse. Brad been featured on several national TV programs because of his memory skills.