Steinhoff sentenced to life in prison for Town of Dunn murder
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by LeAnn R. Ralph
MENOMONIE — A Dunn County judge has sentenced Ryan L. Steinhoff, age 40, to life in prison for the murder of Bruce McGuigan at a Town of Dunn residence in November of 2020.
Steinhoff appeared in Dunn County Circuit Court for a sentencing hearing with his attorney, Matthew Krische, before Judge James Peterson June 28.
Steinhoff was charged with first degree intentional homicide with the modifiers of as a party to a crime, use of a dangerous weapon and as a repeat offender as well as two felony counts of bail jumping as a repeat offender and one misdemeanor count of retail theft of less than $500 as a party to a crime and as a repeat offender.
Following a one-week jury trial last November, the jury delivered a verdict of guilty on all counts after about two hours of deliberation.
Steinhoff had pleaded not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect.
One week later, following one day of testimony, the jury rejected Steinhoff’s plea of not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect after another two hours of deliberation.
Section 971.15 of the Wisconsin Statutes defines not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect, which is also referred to as “NGI.”
In the case of a trial where a defendant has pleaded NGI, the prosecution must prove the person is guilty of the crime, and it is then up to the defendant to convince the jury that he or she is not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect.
After the victim’s mother had made a statement to the court, Steinhof’s mother addressed the court, according to online court records.
Krische told Judge Peterson that he was requesting that Steinhoff be eligible for extended supervision after serving 20 years in prison and that family support be taken out of Steinhoff’s prison wages before court costs.
Steinhoff also addressed the court on his own behalf.
Judge Peterson noted that he cannot consider probation because Wisconsin law requires life in prison on a conviction of first degree intentional homicide.
Sentence
The judge ordered Steinhoff to serve life in prison without the possibility of extended supervision.
For the two counts of felony bail jumping, Judge Peterson sentenced Steinhoff to seven years of initial confinement and three years of extended supervision on each count, to run concurrently with the sentence of life in prison. On the count of misdemeanor retail theft, the judge sentenced Steinhoff to nine months in jail and gave the defendant credit for time served of 954 days.
Steinhoff also was ordered to pay $538 in court costs on each of the three felony counts and to pay $4,950 in restitution for crime victim compensation.
In addition, Steinhoff was ordered to have no contact with Joyce McGuigan as well as Ashley Gunder, Chad Turgeson and George Welch.
McGuigan was murdered at Welch’s residence.
Chad D. Turgeson, age 40, and Ashley A. Gunder, age 27, also were charged with McGuigan’s murder.
Turgeson was found not guilty by a Dunn County jury in July of 2022, and Judge Peterson dismissed the count of first-degree intentional homicide as a party to a crime related to the death of McGuigan, age 37, of Hayward, at N2564 440th Street in the Town of Dunn November 17, 2020.
Gunder pleaded “no contest” and was found guilty of first degree reckless homicide and sentenced by Dunn County Circuit Court Judge Christina Mayer in December of 2021 to 25 years of initial confinement in prison and 10 years of extended supervision.
Bail was set at $500,000 cash for Steinhoff on November 30, 2020.
The original case against Steinhoff before Judge Mayer was dismissed in March of 2022 and was refiled and assigned to Judge Peterson.
Turgeson also was charged with one count of retail theft, and the jury found him guilty on the misdemeanor.
Turgeson had seven or eight months of credit for time served, and Judge Peterson sentenced him to six months with six months of time served for the retail theft.
Steinhoff prelim
Sergeant Travis Mayer with the Dunn County Sheriff’s Department testified during Steinhoff’s preliminary hearing in December of 2020 that on November 17, sheriff’s department deputies responded to a call from George Welch, who was at the residence of another person.
When deputies talked to him, Welch said there was someone badly injured at his trailer on 440th Street in the Town of Dunn.
The two deputies went to Welch’s trailer and used a public address system to ask anyone inside the residence to exit.
A woman, later identified as Ashley Gunder, and a dog emerged from Welch’s residence, Sergeant Mayer said.
In the second bedroom, deputies discovered a man covered in blood with visible lacerations to his head who was not moving and who was cold to the touch, the sergeant said.
Welch
The deputies obtained a more detailed statement from Welch, who said while he had been in town, four people had broken into his house. Welch said he knew two of the people. One was “Chad” — later identified as Chad Turgeson — and Little Red, identified as Ashley Gunder. Welch said he did not know another individual, who seemed to be in charge, and that he also did not know the victim, Sergeant Mayer said.
Welch said he was told not to go to the bedroom because someone was being “schooled” and that he had heard noises coming from the bedroom, the sergeant testified.
Weapons
Gunder spoke with law enforcement on multiple occasions during the course of the investigation and then asked to speak with a female officer, the criminal complaint states.
Gunder spoke with Investigator Merryfield of the Dunn County Sheriff’s Department and said she had broken into Welch’s trailer through a window and had let the others inside the trailer through the front door. Ryan and Chad were “schooling” the victim, although Gunder said she did not know Steinhoff’s name at the time, Sergeant Mayer said.
Gunder had been asked for a knife that could be disposed of and that she had found a green handled knife, the sergeant said.
According to the criminal complaint, multiple items were recovered at Welch’s residence that were believed to be the weapons used, including a hammer, knives and a wooden table leg.
Steinhoff admitted to punching the victim and kicking him in the head along with hitting him with the table leg, Sergeant Mayer said.
Gunder said she and Steinhoff had gone to Hayward on November 15 to get the victim, had met Turgeson and had gone to Welch’s, he said.
Steinhoff, who was interviewed several times during the investigation, initially denied being involved but then eventually said he and Turgeson had gone into the bedroom with the victim and had gotten into an argument. Steinhoff eventually said he had struck and kicked the victim, according to the complaint.
Gunder’s job was to clean up, and she said she moved items off the victim, including a window, broken glass and a yellow cat litter box, the sergeant testified during the preliminary hearing.
According to the criminal complaint, Gunder told investigators the dog had belonged to the victim and would have a tag containing the victim’s address.
The criminal complaint also states Gunder said this was not the first time she had been through something like this but that she had never had to deal with the body.
