MEQUON MURDERER COPS PLEA

STEPHEN TRATTNER TO BE SENTENCED IN SEPTEMBER

A MilwaukeeWorld exclusive

By Michael Horne

Steve L. Trattner, the Mequon man charged with murdering his wife Sin Lam in January, appeared in Ozaukee County Court at 1:30p.m. today, June 16th, 2006, and entered a plea of "no contest" to the charges, thereby cancelling the jury trial that had been scheduled to begin June 26th.

What had begun as the final scheduling conference before the trial then became a "Plea Hearing" before Judge Tom R. Wolfgram, who accepted the plea and found the defendant guilty.
The parties, including Sandy Ann Williams, the D.A. from Oz, and Trattner's attorney, Michael J. Fitzgerald, told the judge that there had been no plea agreement and would be no recommendation made at the sentencing, which was set for September 6th, 2006 at 9 a.m. The judge ordered a presentence investigation of Trattner, who was remanded to the custody of the Sheriff pending the sentencing.

Thus ends a sad case in Mequon, where homicide is not common, but is not unknown either, particularly along the river.