A Sauk Prairie man has been convicted for a second time for a 1987 murder he claims he didn't commit.
In a plea agreement, he was paroled and a rape charge connected to the murder was dropped.
The murder of 18-year-old Angela Hackl 26 years ago was brutal: She was raped and shot and hung from a tree in the woods near Prairie Du Sac. Terry Vollbrecht has served 22 years in prison for the murder that he says he didn't commit. An appeals court granted him a new trial in 2011. The trial had been set for April of next year, but yesterday Vollbrecht signed a no-contest plea and was paroled because he had served the 22 years required under his initial sentence.
His Wisconsin Innocence Project attorney, Ion Meyn, says it means a jury will never hear evidence that suggested another man serving time for a similar murder committed this one too.
“This was also an individual who was found with a huge amount of torture porn that witnesses said he would read and do other things with,” says Meyn. “You have a very troubled individual who also spoke to cell mates about these desires and he also referred to multiple women, so this is something the jury in the first instance never considered.”
Meyn says Vollbrecht's plea means he has waived his right to any more appeals but he's also out of prison and can go on with his life.
“The state contends Terry's guilty and Terry contends he's, innocent and we have facts that can show that but it's circumstantial evidence,” says Meyn. “And so when you're put in that situation and you can't get those 22 years back – as agonizing as that can be – you make a choice.”
Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen says the plea agreement is the final step in a long process that brings closure for the friends and family of the victim Angela Hackl.
