Guilty verdict in Land O' Lakes Toilet Bowl murder
Bo Raxo
Forgive me if someone else posted this, I hadn't seen it pop up. And who
can resist a murder by toilet bowl in a town called Land O'Lakes?
Not me, obviously.
Bo Raxo
Man Convicted Of Drowning Wife In Toilet
Prosecutor: Husband Was Upset That Wife Was Lesbian
RHINELANDER, Wis. -- A man accused of poisoning his wife and drowning her in
a toilet bowl after she told him she was homosexual has been found guilty by
a jury of first-degree intentional homicide.
The jury in Vilas County Circuit Court deliberated nine hours before finding
Douglas Plude, 35, of Land O'Lakes guilty late Friday evening in the death
of Genell Johnson Plude, 28.
She was found dead, her head and face in a toilet bowl, in the home of her
mother-in-law on Oct. 22, 1999.
The state claimed Plude was poisoned and her head forced into the toilet
bowl by her husband.
The defense argued Plude intentionally took lethal doses of drugs, vomited,
and eventually died while slung over the toilet bowl.
Prosecutors said the evidence showed Plude's ego suffered a devastating blow
Oct. 21, 1999 when his wife informed him she was a lesbian.
When the verdict was read, Plude dropped his head and sobbed. Sentencing was
scheduled Feb. 11.
tiny dancer
"Bo Raxo" <cheneys...@nospam.deathsdoor.com> wrote in message
news:atp888$d2f$1...@slb9.atl.mindspring.net...
>
> Forgive me if someone else posted this, I hadn't seen it pop up. And who
> can resist a murder by toilet bowl in a town called Land O'Lakes?
>
> Not me, obviously.
>
> Bo Raxo
Thanks for posting this, I wondered what the verdict was.
td
Patty
PLUDE PINNED WITH MURDER
By Heather Schaefer
The Rhinelander Daily News
A Vilas County man was convicted late Friday evening of poisoning his
wife, drowning her in a toilet bowl, and arranging the scene to look
like a suicide.
After nine hours of deliberation, six women and six men from Shawano
County unanimously agreed Douglas J. Plude, 35, of Land O'Lakes,
murdered his wife back in October of 1999. Genell Johnson Plude, 28,
was found dead, her head and face in a toilet bowl, in the home of her
mother-in-law on October 22, 1999. Significant amounts of drugs were
found in her system and unusual bruising marks were found on her body.
The state claimed Plude was poisoned and her head forced into the
toilet bowl by her husband. The defense argued Plude intentionally
took lethal doses of the drug Fioricet, vomited, and eventually
expired while slung over the toilet bowl.
The verdict, delivered in the final hours of Friday the 13th, came
after both attorneys delivered powerful closing arguments. Like a
preacher instructing his flock, Vilas County District Attorney Al
Moustakis repeatedly exhorted the jury to "go into that room (the jury
room) and think about the truth."
"Genell's body speaks the truth, it doesn't lie," he said. "People who
are living do."
Moustakis said the defendant tried to commit the perfect crime but
became entangled in a lie that ultimately proves his guilt.
"He disguised the poison but Genell's body rejected it, she threw up,
that's when he panicked," Moustakis explained. "He had to finish it
off, he put his hand behind her head and stuck her face in the water."
Moustakis said the evidence proved Plude's ego suffered a devastating
blow on October 21, 1999 when his wife informed him she was
homosexual.
He also said Doug was aware Genell's parents were planning on picking
her up the next day so she could start a new life alone.
"When she told him that she was a lesbian he went nuts," Moustakis
said. "He went crying to Mommy and he blurted to the world (via the
Internet), 'she's a lesbian, get it? My marriage is a failure.'
"He had to murder her before she left him," the prosecutor added. "He
wasn't going to let that (her leaving) happen."
According to Moustakis, the lie that led to Plude's conviction was his
assertion that he found his wife's head beneath the toilet water.
The district attorney said Plude had to use that cover story because
his mother immediately noticed that her daughter-in-law's face and
hair were so wet she appeared as if she had just stepped out of the
shower.
But, as renowned expert on injury causation Dr. Saami Shaibani told
the jury late last week, an adult head couldn't penetrate toilet water
without force being exerted against it. The laws of gravity don't
permit it.
"The defendant's story is impossible," the prosecutor said,
"Absolutely impossible."
In her final argument, Public Defender Ann Munninghoff tried to put
the jury's focus back on the woman who died. She told the jury "it's
time to listen to Genell's words and take them seriously," as she read
passages from the deceased woman's journal.
Munninghoff said the writings showed Genell took her own life after an
Internet relationship with a woman in Texas failed.
Genell Plude was an "overwhelmingly sad person looking for a way out"
who kept her true feelings inside herself, away from all the family
members and friends who thought she was happy, defense counsel argued.
"Isn't that like families?" Munninghoff said, "Everybody loves each
other, but there's a lot they don't know."
Munninghoff also criticized the investigators who processed the crime
scene and attempted to cast doubt on the state's impressive roster of
experts.
"Everybody's dissecting every word Doug said, every nuance," she said.
"How many tears did he shed, what was his tone of voice, was he
grieving the way he was supposed to be grieving?"
As for the investigators, "What they didn't do (in collecting
evidence) was just astounding when you consider the seriousness of
this case," she said.
Repeatedly she argued the state had left too much to the jury's
imagination and had failed to produce concrete proof that Genell Plude
drowned and that Doug Plude was responsible for it.
"There's no evidence," she said, "Where's the evidence?"
The truth, defense counsel said, was Genell Plude wanted to die.
"It's time to listen to Genell's words, her confusion, her sadness,
her despair, and her suicide," Munninghoff said, "We should let her
rest in peace."
Nine hours later, after Judge James B. Mohr read the jury's verdict,
Doug Plude dropped his head and sobbed. He was later led to the Vilas
County Jail pending sentencing at 1 p.m. February 11, 2003. A defense
motion to dismiss the case will also be heard at that time.
A row behind him his mother, Mary Ellen, also dropped her head and
muttered, "I don't believe this, I don't believe this."
At one point she glanced across the aisle towards Genell Plude's
family, and said, "You did this."
As the verdict was read, a number of the deceased woman's friends and
relatives gasped and cried. An aunt waved Genell's picture high above
her head.
Later, Prosecutor Moustakis called the announcement of the guilty
verdict both sad and just.
"We learned today that somebody was murdered," he said, calling the
conviction a team effort. "Justice was done and that's what we're here
for," he added.
After privately thanking Moustakis and the lead investigator in the
case, Detective Sergeant David Dobbs of the Vilas County Sheriff's
Department, Genell's family released a statement to the media
expressing gratitude to the jury, all those who testified on the
state's behalf, and the many Vilas County officials who spent long
hours in pursuit of this conviction. "Genny's family misses her and
loves her very much," the statement ended.
Coroner Paul Tirpe indicated that the family might soon be able to
take custody of Genell's body. With his conviction, Doug Plude loses
his right to control her estate and the county no longer needs to hold
the body as evidence, Tirpe said.
After a few administrative details are worked out, the body should be
released.
More than three years after Genell Plude's parents planned to travel
to Wisconsin to help her leave her husband, she's finally going home.
Patty
WIFW Channel 12
Rhinelander, WI, Dec. 17 - Late Friday night, after two weeks of
testimony and nine hours of deliberating, a jury found Doug Plude
guilty of the 1999 murder of his wife, Genell, in their Land O'Lakes
home.
Today Plude's attorney, Public Defender Ann Munninghoff speaks
out. As Newswatch 12's Paul Guequierre reports she says the trial may
be over but the fight to free Doug Plude is not.
It was a really outstanding defense case, says Munninghoff, and
we thought we had a really good chance of having our client go free.
But Munninghoff's client, Doug Plude, is not free. A jury found
him guilty of murder but Munninghoff isn't giving up. As she tells
us, ". . . it's not over yet. I think that there maybe some strong
appellate issues regarding the proceeding of the case."
An appeal is inevitable but it won't be soon. For now
Munninghoff is upset with how the trial of her client went. She says
the prosecution didn't treat her, her witnesses, or her client with
the respect they deserve and that may have influenced the jury.
I think of both us . . both the expert, Dr. Kalelkar, the Deputy
Chief Medical Examiner from Cook County, and myself, I think we both
deserve more than to be treated like a couple of little girls in court
and that really upset me, says Munninghoff. And she adds, my client
didn't deserve to be called names the way that he was called names and
I think that whole emotional impact of calling my client a loser, I
mean my client's a working man.
Munninghoff says the hardest part of the guilty verdict was
talking to her client the next day and she says "it's very difficult
for him being in jail and having to face what he knows he's facing."
And Munninghoff says the jury did not see the real Doug Plude.
"I have not seen any sign of this evil genius that the state has
portrayed, says Munninghoff. To be honest he seems like a simple guy.
What you see is what you get."
An appeal is in the future but on the Monday after her client was
found guilty of murder, Munninghoff can only wonder what else she
could have done. As she explains, I wanted to argue the facts and I
wanted to stay away from the highly emotional charged arguments and I
did and I'm thinking that might have been a mistake.
Doug Plude will be sentenced in February. He faces life in
prison. His attorney says at sentencing they will argue once again to
have the case dismissed for lack of evidence.