Charge against former Wisconsin warden in inmate deaths is reduced to a misdemeanor
JUNEAU, Wis. (AP) — Prosecutors have reduced a felony misconduct charge against a former Wisconsin prison warden implicated in two inmate deaths to a misdemeanor as part of a plea deal, online court records indicated Monday.
Hepp was charged with felony misconduct in office in June 2024 in the deaths of Cameron Williams and Donald Maier at the Waupun Correctional Institution, the state's oldest maximum security facility. He announced his retirement days before he was charged.
Online court records show prosecutors reduced the misconduct charge Monday to violating state-county institution laws. The misconduct charge carried a maximum sentence of three-and-a-half years in prison and $10,000 in fines. The violation count is a misdemeanor punishable by up to 30 days in jail and $500 in fines.
Hepp was due to appear in Dodge County Circuit Court on Monday afternoon for a joint plea-sentencing hearing. Online records show a plea agreement was filed Monday morning and Hepp was given a guilty plea questionnaire, a form that asks defendants if they knowingly and voluntarily plead guilty.
Hepp's attorney, Michael Steinle, did not return a message from The Associated Press on Monday morning.
Warden's staff charged in deaths
Eight members of Hepp's staff were charged in June with abuse or misconduct in the deaths. Online court records show charges were dismissed against one of them this month and another pleaded guilty in September to a reduced count of misdemeanor violating laws governing a penal institution and was assessed a $250 fine. Cases are pending against the remaining six staffers.
Williams died of a stroke at the prison in October 2023. His body was not discovered for at least 12 hours. Maier died of dehydration and malnutrition in February 2024.
According to court documents, Williams told an inmate advocate three days before he died that he needed to go to a hospital but no action was taken. He had fallen in the shower two days earlier and had to crawl into his cell. A day before that he collapsed on the way back to his cell but neither fall was documented. No one checked on him the night he died.
Maier had severe mental health problems but either refused or wasn't given his medication in the eight days leading up to his death, according to court documents. Another inmate told investigators guards turned off Maier's water after he flooded his cell. Guards said they turned water off and on for Maier, but investigators said no one told him when it was on and no one gave him food in the four days before his death.
Asked if prison workers understand the water shut-off policy, Hepp told investigators that policies go out via email but he doesn't think anyone at any prison reads them. He said no American jail documents an inmate's every meal.
Multiple inmates have died at Waupun since 2023
The prison, with a stone exterior and high, castle-like guard towers, opened in 1854 and has long been a target for closure. Seven inmates, including Williams and Maier, have died there since 2023. One killed himself, one died of a fentanyl overdose and one died of what investigators suspect was suicide. Two more deaths are under investigation.
A federal investigation into smuggling at the prison has so far netted at least one former employee who pleaded guilty to smuggling cellphones and drugs in exchange for money. Inmates have filed a class-action lawsuit alleging inhumane conditions and a lack of health care.
Wisconsin's governor won't close the prison
Democratic Gov. Tony Evers has rejected calls to shutter the facility, despite the problems. He has said he wants broader criminal justice reform and a plan to house the facility's roughly 1,700 inmates.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Newsweek
an hour ago
- Newsweek
New '1984' Foreword Includes Warning About 'Problematic' Characters
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. The 75th anniversary edition of George Orwell's novel 1984, which coined the term "thoughtcrime" to describe the act of having thoughts that question the ruling party's ideology, has become an ironic lightning rod in debates over alleged trigger warnings and the role of historical context in classic literature. The introduction to the new edition, endorsed by Orwell's estate and written by the American author Dolen Perkins-Valdezm, is at the center of the storm, drawing fire from conservative commentators as well as public intellectuals, and prompting a wide spectrum of reaction from academics who study Orwell's work. Perkins-Valdez opens the introduction with a self-reflective exercise: imagining what it would be like to read 1984 for the first time today. She writes that "a sliver of connection can be difficult for someone like me to find in a novel that does not speak much to race and ethnicity," noting the complete absence of Black characters. She also describes her pause at the protagonist Winston Smith's "despicable" misogyny, but ultimately chooses to continue reading, writing: "I know the difference between a flawed character and a flawed story." "I'm enjoying the novel on its own terms, not as a classic but as a good story; that is, until Winston reveals himself to be a problematic character," she writes. "For example, we learn of him: 'He disliked nearly all women, and especially the young and pretty ones.' Whoa, wait a minute, Orwell." That framing was enough to provoke sharp critique from novelist and essayist Walter Kirn on the podcast America This Week, co-hosted with journalist Matt Taibbi. Kirn characterized the foreword as a kind of ideological overreach. "Thank you for your trigger warning for 1984," he said. "It is the most 1984ish thing I've ever f***ing read." In which you will learn that the current leading paperback version of 1984, its official Orwell-estate-approved 75th anniversary edition, includes a 1984-ish trigger-warning introduction calling the novel's hero "problematic" because of his "misogyny." I am not making this up. — Walter Kirn (@walterkirn) June 2, 2025 Later in the episode, which debuted on June 1, Kirn blasted what he saw as an imposed "permission structure" by publishers and academic elites. "It's a sort of Ministry of Truthism," he said, referring to the Ministry of Truth that features prominently in the dystopian novel. "They're giving you a little guidebook to say, 'Here's how you're supposed to feel when you read this.'" Conservative commentator such as Ed Morrissey described the foreword as part of "an attempt to rob [Orwell's work] of meaning by denigrating it as 'problematic.'" Morrissey argued that trigger warnings on literary classics serve to "distract readers at the start from its purpose with red herrings over issues of taste." But not all responses aligned with that view. Academic Rebuttal Peter Brian Rose-Barry, a philosophy professor at Saginaw Valley State University and author of George Orwell: The Ethics of Equality, disputed the entire premise. "There just isn't [a trigger warning]," he told Newsweek in an email after examining the edition. "She never accuses Orwell of thoughtcrime. She never calls for censorship or cancelling Orwell." In Rose-Barry's view, the foreword is neither invasive nor ideological, but reflective. "Perkins-Valdez suggests in her introduction that 'love and artistic beauty can act as healing forces in a totalitarian state,'" he noted. "Now, I find that deeply suspect... but I'd use this introduction to generate a discussion in my class." Taibbi and Kirn, by contrast, took issue with that exact line during the podcast. "Love heals? In 1984?" Taibbi asked. "The whole thing ends with Winston broken, saying he loves Big Brother," the symbol of the totalitarian state at the heart of the book. Kirn laughed and added, "It's the kind of revisionist uplift you get from a book club discussion after someone just watched The Handmaid's Tale." Photographs of Eric Blair, whose pen name was George Orwell, from his Metropolitan Police file, c.1940. Photographs of Eric Blair, whose pen name was George Orwell, from his Metropolitan Police file, c.1940. The National Archives UK Perkins-Valdez, a Black writer, Harvard graduate and professor of literature at American University, also noted the novel's lack of racial representation: "That sliver of connection can be difficult for someone like me to find in a novel that does not speak much to race and ethnicity at all." Kirn responded to that sentiment on the show by pointing out that Orwell was writing about midcentury Britain: "When Orwell wrote the book, Black people made up maybe one percent of the population. It's like expecting white characters in every Nigerian novel." Richard Keeble, former chair of the Orwell Society, argued that critiques of Orwell's treatment of race and gender have long been part of academic discourse. "Questioning Orwell's representation of Blacks in 1984 can usefully lead us to consider the evolution of his ideas on race generally," he told Newsweek. "Yet Orwell struggled throughout his life, and not with complete success, to exorcise what Edward Said called 'Orientalism.'" Keeble added, "Trigger warnings and interpretative forewords... join the rich firmament of Orwellian scholarship—being themselves open to critique and analysis." Cultural Overreach The 75th anniversary edition of George Orwell's 1984 has become a lightning rod in debates over alleged wokeness, censorship and the role of historical context in reading classic literature. The 75th anniversary edition of George Orwell's 1984 has become a lightning rod in debates over alleged wokeness, censorship and the role of historical context in reading classic literature. Newsweek / Penguin Random House While critics like Kirn view Perkins-Valdez's new foreword as a symptom of virtue signaling run amok, others see it as part of a long-standing literary dialogue. Laura Beers, a historian at American University and author of Orwell's Ghosts: Wisdom and Warnings for the Twenty-First Century, acknowledged that such reactions reflect deeper political divides. But she defended the legitimacy of approaching Orwell through modern ethical and social lenses. "What makes 1984 such a great novel is that it was written to transcend a specific historical context," she told Newsweek. "Although it has frequently been appropriated by the right as a critique of 'socialism,' it was never meant to be solely a critique of Stalin's Russia." Dolen Perkins-Valdez. Dolen Perkins-Valdez. Courtesy American University "Rather," she added, "it was a commentary on how absolute power corrupts absolutely, and the risk to all societies, including democracies like Britain and the United States, of the unchecked concentration of power." Beers also addressed the role of interpretive material in shaping the reading experience. "Obviously, yes, in that 'interpretive forewords' give a reader an initial context in which to situate the texts that they are reading," she said. "That said, such forewords are more often a reflection on the attitudes and biases of their own time." While the foreword has prompted the familiar battle lines playing out across the Trump-era culture wars, Beers sees the conversation itself as in keeping with Orwell's legacy. "By attempting to place Orwell's work in conversation with changing values and historical understandings in the decades since he was writing," she said, "scholars like Perkins-Valdez are exercising the very freedom to express uncomfortable and difficult opinions that Orwell explicitly championed."
New York Post
2 hours ago
- New York Post
Milwaukee sicko Maxwell Anderson found guilty of murdering, dismembering college student Sade Robinson after first date
A Wisconsin sicko was found guilty of killing and dismembering a 19-year-old college co-ed on their first date in a grisly scene eerily similar to a Netflix documentary he watched days earlier. Maxwell Anderson, 34, sat stone-faced as Judge Laura Crivello read the guilty verdicts in the April 2024 murder of Sade Carleena Robinson after the jury discussed for less than an hour Friday afternoon. Robinson was studying criminal justice at Milwaukee Area Technical College when she met Anderson for dinner on April 1, 2024. Robinson, who was described as being excited for the date, went out to a restaurant and a bar with Anderson before returning to his Milwaukee home. She was reported missing on April 2 when she didn't show up for her shift at a pizzeria. Police conducted a welfare check at Robinson's home on April 3, but found no trace of her. 7 Maxwell Anderson appears in court during his murder trial in Milwaukee, Wisc. on June 5, 2025. AP Robinson's sawed-off leg was found on the shores of Lake Michigan that same day the police visited her residence. Prosecutors used graphic and bloodied photos from Anderson's phone to prove he was the teen's killer. One deleted image recovered by detectives captured Anderson holding Robinson's chopped-off right breast, described as 'his trophy' by one juror. 'This is his trophy in a way,' juror Melissa Blascoe told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. 'Those pictures will be in my mind for quite some time.' 7 Sade Robinson was brutally murdered and dismembered by Maxwell Anderson after their date on April 1, 2024. Sade Robinson/Facebook Along with the leg that matched Robinson's DNA, authorities also found additional body parts, including a foot and human flesh scattered throughout the city. Her right breast is among other parts of her body that haven't been recovered. The jury was provided with additional evidence after the hearing that Anderson and Robinson were inside his home the night she was murdered when her killer turned on the Netflix animated series 'Love, Death & Robots.' In the second season finale, a dismembered corpse is discovered on the beach, similar to Robinson's body. 'I was like, oh, … that's disgusting because that could have been where he got some of his ideas or fantasies,' Blascoe told the outlet. 7 Prosecutors provide evidence pictures to the courtroom including a knife and sheath. AP 7 Maxwell Anderson arrives to court wearing an orange prisoner jumpsuit on April 22, 2024. AP Police found a 'sex dungeon' in Anderson's home after his arrest. In his basement, the creep had 'a sex sling, restraints and handcuffs,' a police source told the Post last April. Other photos on Anderson's phone included pictures of the college student inside his home, described as graphic and disturbing. 'That was pretty damning evidence that shook everyone,' Blascoe said. 'I physically felt like I was gonna throw up at that point. I know a lot of people were shaking and crying.' Some of the photos captured Anderson groping Robinson as she lay face down on his couch. Prosecutors said Robinson was incapacitated at that point and could not have resisted. She said the photos were a turning point in the trials as they physically put Robinson inside the home of her soon-to-be killer. After the brutal killing, Anderson drove Robinson's 2020 Honda Civic around Milwaukee for some time before parking it in North Milwaukee and lighting it on fire. 'He was just making circles around the city and probably just kind of panicking,' Blascoe said. It took the jury 45 minutes to reach a guilty verdict, with the majority of the discussion focusing on the technicalities of the law. 'Everyone agreed pretty early on in the morning that he was guilty,' juror Melissa Blascoe told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. 7 Body parts belonging to Sade Robinson were discovered scattered around Milwaukee in the days after her death. Sheena Scarbrough/Facebook 7 Security footage captured Sade Robinson leaving her apartment building on April 1, 2024. AP The pack of 15 jurors debated on the type of homicide Anderson committed – intentional or reckless. He was ultimately found guilty of first-degree intentional homicide, mutilating a corpse, hiding a corpse and arson. Robinson was remembered by her family, who attended the hearing Friday. 'She will forever be remembered as an angel,' said Sheena Scarbrough, Robinson's mother said outside the courthouse. 'My baby solved her own case. That's how I raised my kids. We don't give up. We are fighters. I demanded justice. I stand tall, I stand affirmative. Sade will continue to walk with me daily and right beside me.' 7 Anderson faces a mandatory life sentence, but Judge Laura Crivello could sentence him to additional extended supervision. AP Anderson is believed to have planned Robinson's killing for months, creating a space covered in a plastic tarp. 'He intended to kill Sade Robinson,' a police source recalled Anderson telling him, according to Fox 6 Milwaukee. No motive for the killing was revealed during the trial. Anderson is scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 15. He faces a mandatory life sentence, but Judge Laura Crivello could sentence him to additional extended supervision. With Post wires
San Francisco Chronicle
2 hours ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Israel says it has retrieved the body of a Thai hostage kidnapped into Gaza on Oct. 7, 2023
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Israel says it has retrieved the body of a Thai hostage kidnapped into Gaza on Oct. 7, 2023, as it continues its military offensive across the strip, killing at least 22 people overnight, according to health officials. The Prime Minister's office said Saturday that the body of Thai citizen Nattapong Pinta was returned to Israel in a special military operation. Pinta was kidnapped from Kibbutz Nir Oz and killed in captivity near the start of the war, said the government. This comes two days after the bodies of two Israeli-American hostages were retrieved. Fifty-five hostages remain in Gaza, of whom Israel says more than half are dead. The defense minister said Saturday that Pinta's body was retrieved from the Rafah area. He had come to Israel from Thailand to work in agriculture. A statement from the hostage forum, which supports the hostages, said it stands with Pinta's family and shares in their grief. It called on the country's decision makers to bring home the remaining hostages and give those who have died a proper burial. Thais were the largest group of foreigners held captive by Hamas militants. Many of the Thai agricultural workers lived in compounds on the outskirts of southern Israeli kibbutzim and towns, and Hamas militants overran those places first. A total of 46 Thais have been killed during the conflict, according to Thailand's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. One strike hit an apartment killing seven people including a mother and five children. Their bodies were taken to Shifa hospital. Israel said Saturday that it's responding to Hamas' 'barbaric attacks' and is dismantling its capabilities. It said it follows international law and takes all feasible precautions to mitigate civilian harm. ——
