DARLINGTON - The father convicted of killing his three children in an Argyle house fire asked to retract his guilty plea, saying he was coerced into confessing to crimes he did not commit.
Armin Wand III, 35, is serving three consecutive life sentences without parole for his guilty pleas entered in February 2013 on three counts of first-degree intentional homicide.
Online court records show a motion was made on behalf of Wand seeking post-conviction relief on Jan. 12. Wand also sent a letter asking Judge Thomas Vale, who presided over the case, to retract his guilty pleas two days later.
Vale said he can't comment "prospectively" on the case, but said the Attorney General's office will need to be involved as well as other state entities. Vale also couldn't comment on a timeline for when Wand's request to withdraw his plea will proceed.
"We will coordinate with the state and just see where we go," Vale said.
If Vale accepts the motion, Wand will be able to change his plea and request a new trial in Lafayette County. If the motion is denied, defense attorney Patricia Fitzgerald she will ask the state Court of Appeals to overturn it, according to the Wisconsin State Journal
"I don't think there's enough there to say Armin is guilty," Fitzgerald said.
Wand was convicted of helping to start his rented home in Argyle on fire, which killed his three sons, Allen Wand, 7, Jeffery Wand, 5, and Joseph Wand, 3. Wand's pregnant wife Sharon was severely burned in the fire after attempting to save her children. She and their youngest daughter Jessica, then 2 years old, were the only survivors despite Armin Wand's attempts to put the child back into the fire. Sharon Wand's unborn child also died while Sharon Wand was in a coma caused by her injuries.
Armin Wand and his brother Jeremy, 20, conspired to set the September 2012 fire to gain insurance money under the pretense of getting a "fresh start," according to the criminal complaint. For his participation, Jeremy Wand was offered $300 as a cut in the insurance money. He is currently serving a life sentence with parole available in September 2048.
Armin Wand's defense attorneys argued that his admission to starting the fire to state investigators was coerced and conducted before he was read his rights. This lead to a plea deal that Wand has written about to The Monroe Times before, saying he "had ineffective counsel," and that his public defenders, Guy Taylor and Jason Daane, yelled at him when the timeline to change his plea from not guilty to guilty lapsed.
Armin Wand hand-wrote a seven-page letter to the Times received in May 2013 detailing his grievances about his defense, law enforcement violating his rights and botching the investigation into the fire. In his letter, Wand never explicitly denied the state's charges of intending to kill his children, nor did he provide an alternative explanation for the fire. He also argued that due to his mental disability - a psychologist testified during court proceedings that Wand has an IQ of 67 - law enforcement "took advantage" of him. He did express grief over his son's deaths: "I tried to save my boys," he wrote. "I failed as a father, otherwise they would still be here."Wand was also convicted to 40 years imprisonment for first-degree intentional homicide concurrent to his life sentences and 50 years imprisonment for arson and murder by arson of a building concurrent to all his other charges. He is at the state prison in Boscobel.
- The Associated Press contributed to this story.
Armin Wand III, 35, is serving three consecutive life sentences without parole for his guilty pleas entered in February 2013 on three counts of first-degree intentional homicide.
Online court records show a motion was made on behalf of Wand seeking post-conviction relief on Jan. 12. Wand also sent a letter asking Judge Thomas Vale, who presided over the case, to retract his guilty pleas two days later.
Vale said he can't comment "prospectively" on the case, but said the Attorney General's office will need to be involved as well as other state entities. Vale also couldn't comment on a timeline for when Wand's request to withdraw his plea will proceed.
"We will coordinate with the state and just see where we go," Vale said.
If Vale accepts the motion, Wand will be able to change his plea and request a new trial in Lafayette County. If the motion is denied, defense attorney Patricia Fitzgerald she will ask the state Court of Appeals to overturn it, according to the Wisconsin State Journal
"I don't think there's enough there to say Armin is guilty," Fitzgerald said.
Wand was convicted of helping to start his rented home in Argyle on fire, which killed his three sons, Allen Wand, 7, Jeffery Wand, 5, and Joseph Wand, 3. Wand's pregnant wife Sharon was severely burned in the fire after attempting to save her children. She and their youngest daughter Jessica, then 2 years old, were the only survivors despite Armin Wand's attempts to put the child back into the fire. Sharon Wand's unborn child also died while Sharon Wand was in a coma caused by her injuries.
Armin Wand and his brother Jeremy, 20, conspired to set the September 2012 fire to gain insurance money under the pretense of getting a "fresh start," according to the criminal complaint. For his participation, Jeremy Wand was offered $300 as a cut in the insurance money. He is currently serving a life sentence with parole available in September 2048.
Armin Wand's defense attorneys argued that his admission to starting the fire to state investigators was coerced and conducted before he was read his rights. This lead to a plea deal that Wand has written about to The Monroe Times before, saying he "had ineffective counsel," and that his public defenders, Guy Taylor and Jason Daane, yelled at him when the timeline to change his plea from not guilty to guilty lapsed.
Armin Wand hand-wrote a seven-page letter to the Times received in May 2013 detailing his grievances about his defense, law enforcement violating his rights and botching the investigation into the fire. In his letter, Wand never explicitly denied the state's charges of intending to kill his children, nor did he provide an alternative explanation for the fire. He also argued that due to his mental disability - a psychologist testified during court proceedings that Wand has an IQ of 67 - law enforcement "took advantage" of him. He did express grief over his son's deaths: "I tried to save my boys," he wrote. "I failed as a father, otherwise they would still be here."Wand was also convicted to 40 years imprisonment for first-degree intentional homicide concurrent to his life sentences and 50 years imprisonment for arson and murder by arson of a building concurrent to all his other charges. He is at the state prison in Boscobel.
- The Associated Press contributed to this story.