MONROE — Bond has been set at $10,000 for the former boyfriend of a missing mother of three from Monticello, who once again finds himself in Green County Jail, after brief visits to both Stephenson and Carroll County jails in Illinois. 

Hammer — in the latest development — is alleged to have threatened to kill a neighbor of his near his mother’s home in Shannon, Ill. That arrest came days after getting out on bond that had been recently reduced by a Rock County judge.

“…In a matter of six days he violated conditions,” of his bond, said State’s Attorney Craig Nolen, addressing Circuit Judge Thomas Vale.

Hammer had been in Green County Jail for nearly two years, even as the probe into the missing woman, Melissa Trumpy, 37, continues on both sides of the state line.  She has been missing since October, 2021, and Hammer is thought to have been one of the last people to see her. She was reportedly traveling from Monroe to Shannon when she vanished.

Rock County Judge Ashley Morse, who is now overseeing most of the Wisconsin cases, lowered his bond, and Hammer was released last month into the waiting arms of Stephenson County deputies — before he again posted bond there before being re-arrested.

Now he is charged with bail jumping, disorderly conduct and assault for the incident in Shannon, where he allegedly told a neighbor he would kill the neighbor if did not leave alone his mother, who is that municipality’s village clerk.

In addition, he faces a host of felony charges in Green County and elsewhere, including bail jumping, possession of cocaine with intent to deliver, possession of THC with intent to deliver, maintaining a drug trafficking place, and possession of a firearm as a felon. Trumpy also has been charged with drug crimes related to her time with Hammer in Monticello.

In arguing against bond for Hammer on Monday, Nolen said the defendant may be a flight risk with ties to Nevada and elsewhere and in total, faces 184 years of potential jail time in all his cases combined. 

Nils Wyosnick, Hammer’s attorney, asked Vale for leniency in setting bond for Hammer, adding that the crimes he has been charged with most recently are not “based on anything of significance” and were related merely to a verbal altercation. Further, Wyosnick said, his client has already “posted a total of $42,000-plus (in bail) on other matters.”

“There was no actual act of violence at all,” said Wyosnick. “There really should be no concern … that my client will appear.”

But Vale countered that “it is serious because he’s ignored prior orders of the court” by getting arrested on additional charges.

Conditions of his bail now are similar to those he has been ordered to obey in the past, including him having no contact with Melissa Trumpy or her family. He also can’t consume alcohol or drugs and must not leave Carroll or Stephenson Counties in Illinois, unless to drive to an attorney’s office in DuPage County near Chicago. What’s more, Hammer is restricted from travel north of Wis. 11 in Green County, and may only be present in Dane County to have contact with his attorney there, according to court records.

His next appearance on the new Green County cases is set for 8:30 a.m. on April 6.  His next scheduled court date on the Carroll County charges is set for 9 a.m. on May 19. Hammer’s next appearance in Stephenson County is set for 1:30 p.m. on April 20.

Following Monday’s bond hearing, Hammer’s defense also filed a motion seeking to have Morse, the Rock County substitute judge, handle his new bail jumping cases as well.