APPLETON, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — The murder trial for a man who allegedly killed his two children at their Kaukauna home will be held separately from the trial on charges he tried to escape from the jail. And it appears increasingly likely the murder trial will be postponed from its scheduled start Sept. 6.
On Monday, Judge Mark McGinnis agreed to split the homicide and escape charges. He noted alleged acts happened on different days, have different witnesses, and different victims.
The murder trial is scheduled for Sept. 6, but last month prosecutors revealed the state crime lab continues to do testing of evidence from the crime scene, including the use of relatively new and complex testing methods. As a result, the defense team said it needed more to time get an expert witness to evaluate those reports.
However, when pressed Monday to confirm that the murder trial will not start Sept. 6, Judge McGinnis declined to do so. He asked the attorneys for more written briefs on the evidence & expert issues, and will schedule another hearing, perhaps next week.
If the murder trial does not happen Sept. 6, it appears the escape case would proceed to trial that day.
The children’s mother called police on Feb. 17, 2020, to report their deaths. The mother and Beyer both admitted they did not have a good relationship with each other and were scheduled to appear in court later that day for a family court hearing.
Beyer initially denied being at the scene but later admitted he was at the house — though he has denied killing them. His attorneys have said they plan to argue another man is responsible for the murders.
According to the autopsies, the children suffered multiple “sharp force” injuries.
Beyer was arrested in June 2020, with a $2.5 million cash bond set. In December 2020, a trial date in November 2021 was set, but that was postponed due to competency issues. In October 2021, the trial date for this fall was set.
