By Dave Thompson
Bismarck, ND – A Gardner man who was convicted of killing a Wisconsin man and dismembering his body wants the North Dakota Supreme Court to reverse his conviction.
Dennis Gaede was sentenced to life in prison without parole for murdering Timothy Wicks in late 2001 and stealing his identity. Prosecutors say Gaede cut up Wicks' body at the couple's home, then he and his wife later traveled to Michigan to dump the body parts.
Fargo lawyer Bill Kirschner is representing Gaede. Kirschner says the prosecution relied almost exclusively on Gaede's wife, who testified that he had committed the murder. But Kirschner says the evidence isn't conclusive -- and he doesn't understand the theory of the case presented by the trial attorney -- Steven Mottinger.
"It should have been that 'she did the killing, and I helped her dispose of the body,'" Kirschner told the Court. "The theory of the defense was Gaede wasn't in North Dakota. This is why I think we were sitting in a courtroom where the prosecution could do what it wished, the defense did nothing, and now this man's in jail -- and we don't know, conclusively, that he committed this homicide."
Cass County prosecutor Mark Boening says the evidence is clear Gaede stole Wicks' identity -- and that was the motive for the murder.
"How he represented himself to be Tim Wicks, how he lied about his identity, how he then used this false identity to benefit himself," said Boeninng. "He stole from the company, and this broader scheme, that the murder of Tim Wicks was necessary to try to keep the fraud going."
The Supreme Court will rule on the case later.