Milwaukee man ordered to trial in serial killings

[samanthajane13]

MILWAUKEE – A judge has ordered a Milwaukee man accused of killing seven women over 21 years to stand trial.

Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge Rebecca Dallet ruled after a preliminary hearing Wednesday that there was enough evidence to try 49-year-old Walter Ellis. He is charged with five counts of first-degree intentional homicide and two counts of first-degree murder.

Prosecutors say Ellis' DNA was found on the women and two others, all of whom died between 1986 and 2007. Ellis has not been charged in the two other slayings.

All nine women linked to Ellis ranged in age from 16 to 41.

After the hearing, defense attorney Russell Jones entered not guilty pleas for Ellis.

Dallet set the trial to begin May 3.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090924/ap_on_re_us/us_serial_killings_milwaukee

[samanthajane13]

Suspected Wis. serial killer wants separate trials

MILWAUKEE – A man accused in a string of Milwaukee killings is seeking to have the cases tried separately. If granted, that would be harder for prosecutors to link details from the seven cases.

The motion was filed Wednesday by attorney Russell Jones, who represents 49-year-old Walter Ellis of Milwaukee. Ellis was charged with killing seven women from 1986 to 2007, after police connected him through DNA evidence. He has pleaded not guilty.

The motion says the crimes aren't similar enough to justify being lumped together. It also says they occurred over too long a period and lack enough overlap of evidence.

District attorney John Chisholm did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

Online court records say a hearing on the motion is set for Dec. 23.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091111/ap_on_re_us/us_serial_killings_milwaukee;_ylt=As6hwnwpqLcS9dEa E_4ecgpbIwgF;_ylu=X3oDMTMzbmRxN2swBGFzc2V0A2FwLzIw MDkxMTExL3VzX3NlcmlhbF9raWxsaW5nc19taWx3YXVrZWUEcG 9zAzM3BHNlYwN5bl9wYWdpbmF0ZV9zdW1tYXJ5X2xpc3QEc2xr A3N1c3BlY3RlZHdpcw--