Jury finds Richard Sotka of Green Bay guilty of stabbing to death his girlfriend and her friend in 2023
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GREEN BAY – After a four-day trial, a jury found a Green Bay man guilty of intentionally killing two women in January 2023.
The verdict came exactly one hour after the jury began deliberating.
Overnight between Jan. 28 and Jan. 29, 2023, Richard Sotka, 49, killed Rhonda Cegelski, 58, of Green Bay, and Paula O’Connor, 53, of Bellevue, in the 1600 block of Elkay Lane in Green Bay.
At trial, neither side disputed that Sotka, who admitted to the homicides after his arrest, was guilty of killing Cegelski and O’Connor. Defense attorney Kirk Obear instead asked the jury to land on the lesser included offense of first-degree reckless homicide, rather than first-degree intentional homicide.
In addition to two counts of first-degree intentional homicide with the use of a dangerous weapon, one of which also had a domestic abuse modifier, Sotka was convicted of all other charges against him in the case: one count of criminal damage to property, three counts of felony bail jumping, and two counts of misdemeanor bail jumping.
Sotka’s sentencing is scheduled for 3 p.m. May 20.
The trial, which started Wednesday, wrapped up its closing arguments Monday afternoon.
In the prosecution’s closing arguments, Brown County Deputy District Attorney Dana Johnson recapped the facts of the case:
Cegelski and O’Connor were good friends who worked together as hairstylists.
On the morning of Jan. 29, 2023, Cegelski and O’Connor were found dead in the residence where Cegelski lived with Sotka. Cegelski’s daughter and a friend contacted police after they walked in and found O’Connor dead, with a knife in her neck.
When law enforcement arrived, they found Cegelski dead in the kitchen.
At the time Sotka killed the two women, he was out on bond for charges in three cases in Oconto County related to stalking, violating a restraining order, domestic abuse battery and disorderly conduct.
Investigators tracked Sotka’s GPS monitor, which he was required to wear as part of his bond conditions in the Oconto County cases. Sotka’s GPS last showed him moving in the early morning hours of Jan. 29, 2023. Investigators found the monitor in a ditch between southbound Interstate 41 and the Freedom Road exit ramp in Lawrence. The criminal damage to property charge against Sotka comes from this.
Sotka was driving a truck that belonged to his employer, which had its own location tracking abilities. Law enforcement found Sotka was driving in Arkansas, and local law enforcement in Arkansas arrested him. Sotka had a passport and $4,000 in cash on him at the time of his arrest.
In a police interview after his arrest, Sotka admitted to killing Cegelski and O’Connor. He said the three of them were at the house drinking heavily, and he “just snapped” after getting jealous and humiliated when he saw the two women kissing.
Sotka also told investigators said he similarly snapped when he assaulted a woman he was dating about 20 years ago, sending her to the hospital with a broken leg, fractured skull and knocked-out teeth. The woman testified during the trial.
Richard Sotka talks to defense attorney Stephanie Rock on March 6 at the Brown County Courthouse in Green Bay. Sotka was convicted Monday of two counts of first-degree intentional homicide in the January 2023 deaths of his girlfriend, Rhonda Cegelski, and her friend, Paula O’Connor.
To demonstrate the intent to kill, Johnson shared PowerPoint slides of graphic images taken of the women’s injuries and discussed findings from the medical examiner. Both women suffered numerous knife wounds, believed to have come from the knife with an 8-inch blade found at the scene.
To be convicted of intentional homicide, Johnson said, Wisconsin law says a person had to have formed the intent to kill at some point — which can include the instant before the crime — or knew that their actions were “practically certain” to cause death.
For defense’s closing arguments, Obear told the jury the state did not show enough evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Sotka displayed intent to kill.
“This case is really about one thing,” Obear said. “We’re not contesting that Richard Sotka caused the death of Rhonda and Paula.”
Obear pointed to how Sotka was remorseful during his police interview and was confused about what happened, even asking if the two women had died.
“He cried, he was in pain himself over what happened,” Obear said. “He was asking out loud while he was crying, ‘How could this have happened? What happened?'”
In the prosecution’s rebuttal arguments, Johnson said a reckless homicide charge would be appropriate for a case where someone was “swinging a knife” and killed someone — not this case, where each woman was repeatedly stabbed in the face and neck with an 8-inch blade.
The trial consisted of about three days of prosecution testimony. The defense presented no witnesses.
Sotka was also charged with assaulting a prison guard in November 2023 after the guard confiscated items Sotka wasn’t supposed to have in his jail cell. Sotka has an adjourned initial appearance in that case scheduled for April 3.
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This article originally appeared on Appleton Post-Crescent: Jury finds Green Bay man Richard Sotka guilty in fatal 2023 stabbings