Stanley seeking release again after years in hospital for triple murder at Onalaska church

An Onalaska man, who killed three people at a local church in the 1980s, is asking to be released again from a state hospital. 

A court hearing for Bryan Stanley was scheduled for Thursday in La Crosse, but it is being postponed until early in the new year. 

On Feb. 7, 1985, Stanley fatally shot a priest and two other men at St. Patrick’s Catholic Church in Onalaska, after reportedly objecting to church practices.

He was found not guilty because of mental disease, and was committed to Mendota for much of the time since then, having been released for a short time about a decade ago. 

A previous release lasted several months, but Stanley was sent back to Mendota in 2012 after having violent thoughts. 

According to court records, the district attorney is not objecting to Stanley’s latest request for conditional release.

Stanley was 29 when the shootings occurred. The victims were Rev. John Rossiter, lay minister Ferdinand Roth, Sr. and custodian William Hammes.