Gov. Tony Evers’ commutation board has officially scheduled its 1st hearing – and half of the 12 inmates being considered for release are killers, Wisconsin Right Now has learned. One is a double murderer. They include a man convicted in the notorious Diane Borchardt case; a woman who shot her boyfriend to death in front of a baby; a double murderer of an elderly woman and her son; and a man who killed a Greendale businessman who was stopped at an intersection in a random shooting fueled by the movie Menace II Society.
The public hearing notice indicates that the board’s deliberations will occur in closed session, shielded from public scrutiny. And remember: Evers included a loophole in his executive order that allows the commutation board chair to skip the board altogether and funnel applicants right to Evers’ desk. It’s not clear whether that has happened because there has been almost no transparency from the Evers’ administration. Four of the six killers were juveniles at the time of the homicides.
Six other inmates on the list of 12 received long sentences for armed robbery, drugs, and burglary. It’s not clear how the inmates were chosen for the first hearing out of the flood of other applicants coming into Evers’ office (he has not been transparent about who else has applied.) It’s unclear why Evers’ board is not choosing to hear applicants like Pastor James Graham or Derek Williams (who were convicted of armed robberies (and attempt); Williams also saved a correctional officer’s life), instead of convicted murderers. Graham and Williams didn’t make the list for hearing one. Many observers expect Evers to fast-track many more releases after the governor’s election; however, Democratic governor candidates have said that they support his commutation process.
Until now, no governor had granted commutations in Wisconsin for 25 years.
The notice indicates that the hearing has been scheduled “to hear and interview applicants for gubernatorial commutation. After each of two sessions, the meeting will be held in closed session pursuant to Wis. Stat. §§ 19.85(1)(a), (d), and (f) for purposes of deliberations concerning a case which is before the Board, for purposes of considering specific applications, and for purposes of considering financial, medical, social, or personal histories of specific persons. Hearing times are approximate.”
Date: August 21, 2026
Time: 8:30 am – 3:30 pm
Location: Streaming live on Youtube and/or wiseye.org/live. This notice will be updated once the Youtube link is available.
There are the killers who the board is considering for release during its first hearing:
1. Mighty Howell
Convicted of First-Degree Intentional Homicide and Attempted Armed Robbery in Milwaukee County case number F-932309; sentenced on December 15, 1993 to life imprisonment.
Victim: Roger Buchholz. There is a scholarship in his name. It says that he was a “deceased member of the Milwaukee Chapter of the Financial Executives Institute and the WICPA, who was tragically killed in a drive-by shooting.” Old newspaper articles say he was on his way home from a Financial Executives International dinner when he was randomly accosted and killed. His obituary says he was a married father of two who was an Air Force veteran. He worked for Success Business Industries in Milwaukee and was from Nekoosa.
What the Judge Said at the Time: “What we have is two kids who decided to see a movie and write their own sequel.” He said they had viewed the film, Menace II Society. The victim was described as a 50-year-old Greendale businessman who was “on his way home from a business dinner” and was “shot to death as he tried to drive away.” The judge sentenced Howell to life in prison with no chance of parole until the year 2038. Buchholz was described as a “gentle, hardworking man,” according to a 1993 article in The Capital Times.
Circumstances: Shot random motorist during robbery. Howell is 50 today.
According to court records, “Roger Buchholz was shot and killed while driving his automobile near 35th Street and Clybourn Avenue in the City of Milwaukee. Howell, a seventeen-year-old juvenile, was arrested and implicated in the homicide. After watching a movie, Howell and several others went to 35th Street and Clybourn Avenue intending to commit a robbery. When they reached the area, Howell had a .25-caliber handgun in his possession. An accomplice, acting as a look-out, spotted an approaching automobile and signalled the group to rob the car.”
The records continue: “It is undisputed that the car driven by Buchholz stopped at the intersection of 35th Street and Clybourn Avenue, that Howell pounded on the car’s back window, and that Howell then demanded Buchholz’s stuff. Buchholz drove off and Howell fired four shots at the car. The trial court found that all four shots were fired at Buchholz. Howell moved around the car as he shot. Buchholz drove the car a short distance until it crashed into a building. He later died from a single gunshot wound.”
2. Natalie Murphy
Convicted of First Degree Reckless Homicide and Second Degree Recklessly Endangering Safety in Juneau County case number 2015CF24; sentenced on December 16, 2016 to 20 years of confinement and 6.5 years of extended supervision. Today she is 33. Mandatory release date: 05/06/2036. She was 23 when convicted.
Victim: Andrew Dammen. His obituary says: “He was born January 31, 1991 in Milton. He was a member of the Necedah Graduating Class of 2010. He enjoyed spending time with his family. We was an outdoorsman and enjoyed hunting and fishing. He had many good friends that spending time together was very important.”
What She Did: Shot her boyfriend to death with their infant child in the room.
Court records say: “In 2015, Juneau County Sheriff’s Office deputies were dispatched to the residence of Natalie Murphy and Andrew Dammen. Murphy and Dammen had an on-again, off-again relationship and one child together. When law enforcement officers arrived at the residence, Murphy (who made the emergency call) was crying hysterically and Dammen was unresponsive. A deputy attempted to render first aid to Dammen, but Dammen died shortly thereafter. Murphy told the officers multiple times that she had shot Dammen. Murphy also stated to the officers that Dammen told her to shoot him. At the scene, officers detected the smell of intoxicants on Murphy’s breath. Testing later showed that Murphy’s blood alcohol concentration near the time of the shooting was .145.”
She claimed the gun fired accidentally. Both were from Necedah.
3. Michael Maldonado
Convicted of 1st Degree Intentional Homicide in Jefferson County case number 1994CF330; sentenced on June 27, 1995 to life imprisonment. Parole eligibility date: 09/25/2027
The Victim: Ruben Borchardt, the husband of plot mastermind, teacher’s aide Diane Borchardt
What He Did: “Maldonado was 15 years old when he was found guilty of shooting and killing a man under the direction of a Jefferson high school teacher’s aide, Diana Borchardt, in the early 1990s,” according to WMTV 15 News. he is now 47. There has been dispute over who pulled the trigger. “The man, Ruben Borchardt, was the husband of the staff member who was going through a divorce.”
Court records say: “In April 1994, Ruben Borchardt was found seriously wounded and covered with blood in the basement of his home in Jefferson County. He died that same day and, after an extensive police investigation, Maldonado, who was fifteen years old at the time, and two of his friends, Douglas Vest and Joshua Yanke, became suspects in the case, along with Diane Borchardt, Ruben Borchardt’s estranged wife, who was alleged to have recruited Vest, Yanke and Maldonado to kill him.” Vest later claimed in a letter that he pulled the trigger.
4. Daniel Cerney
Convicted of two counts of 1st Degree Intentional Homicide, Armed Robbery, two counts of Burglary-Armed with Dangerous Weapon, and Theft-Movable Property in Monroe County case number 1999CF198; sentenced on June 30, 2000 to two concurrent life terms.
The Victims: William Leis, 51, and his mother, Evelyn Leis, 85
What he did: The victims were found slain in rural Tomah in 2000, according to The La Crosse Tribune. Cerney met the co-defendant Jimmy L. Grimes in Berlin, WI when Cerney, 16 at the time of the double murer, was a junior at Berlin High School. They lured William Leis, Grimes’ mentor, from his home before “shooting him seven times.” Then Grimes ran into the farmhouse and “killed Evelyn Leis as she tried to hide in a bathroom.” They stole cash, guns and ammo. Evelyn was a mother of five who was described as “a shy person,” according to the La Crosee Tribune. She “raised her five children to appreciate nature, the value of life and hard work.”
Cerney admits he lied in court when he said Grimes shot William. Witnesses said that Cereney “was trying to raise his status in a gang” and “has tatoos of gang symbols.” He was spotted with a rifle under his coat before the murders, the Tribune reported at the time.Grimes was 18 and had served time in a boot camp for troubled youths.
He has participated in restorative justice and admitted, “I had a .22 rifle in my hands, and I shot the man. Numerous times. Until he fell.” There is a petition seeking his release.
5. Demian McDermott
Convicted of First Degree Intentional Homicide while Possession of a Dangerous Weapon in Milwaukee County case number F-903680; sentenced on November 15, 1991 to life imprisonment. Parole Eligibility Date: 04/01/2027
The Victim: Francisco Questell
What He Did: “McDermott was born on October 8, 1972, and was thus barely over eighteen when he and his sixteen-year old accomplice killed the victim on October 13, 1990. The accomplice was the shooter,” court records say. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported: “Demian McDermott brought Questell to the woods. McDermott had turned 18 five days before the killing…Francisco Questell, 19, a popular south side DJ, had been missing four days when his sister, then 16, heard he’d been killed.” The victim’s sister did not oppose the co-defendant’s early release from prison in 2021. His location is described as unknown.
“The charges arose from an incident in which McDermott, Phillip Torsrud and others arranged to buy half a pound of marijuana from Francisco Questell. When Questell arrived with the marijuana, however, Torsrud shot and killed him,” court records say. McDermott told the court at sentencing, “In the last thirteen months I learned many valuable lessons. First of all, I have learned that the life I was living was wrong, that dealing with drugs, the messing with drugs, the reckless attitude that I had – Just that I didn’t have any respect.”
6. Sabir Wilcher
Convicted of First-Degree Intentional Homicide, While Armed in Milwaukee County case number 1995CF2897; sentenced on December 19, 1995 to life imprisonment. Parole Eligibility Date: 03/04/2027
The Victim: Elvis Anderson, 20
What He did: Court records say: “The State alleged that (Emanuel) Johnson and Sabir Wilcher, who were associates of a drug house, planned to rob Anderson while driving him home. Johnson drove the car with Anderson in the front seat, while Wilcher sat in the backseat. As they were driving, Wilcher shot Anderson three times in the back of the head. Johnson and Wilcher put Anderson’s body in an alley, took drugs from his pocket, and left.” Today he’s 46.
Wilcher wrote on a blog, “At the time I was arrested in 1995,1 was only 15 years old and not well educated. I was convicted of first degree intentional homicide, 6 days before I turned 16, in 1995…People would have described me as being very shy when I was a kid. I only completed school through the 6th grade. I was bullied a lot growing up and I only wanted to fit in and impress the same kids who would beat me up every day and chase me home. Both of my parents had a crack cocaine addiction and I basically had to take care of myself. We lived in a bad neighborhood in Milwaukee with drug houses on the same street.”
These are the non-homicide applicants who have been selected for a first hearing.
1. Sharif Green
Convicted of Possess with Intent-Cocaine and Possess with Intent-Heroin in Milwaukee County case number 2014CF4676; sentenced on August 5, 2015 to 20 years of confinement and 10 years of extended supervision. Mandatory Release/Extended Supervision Date: 10/16/2034. In 2025, the judge had denied a motion for reconsideration.
He has a prior record:
2010: Possession of THC, felony
2006: Felon in possess of firearm.
1996: Drug dealing conviction.
2. Aaron Smith
Convicted of four counts of Armed Robbery with Threat of Force, Attempted Armed Robbery with Threat of Force, and Burglary-Building or Dwelling in Marathon County case number 2007CF787; sentenced on December 17, 2008 to 20 years of confinement and 15 years of extended supervision.
What He Did: According to the St. Paul Pioneer Press, “Aaron Smith, 18, who was arrested Nov. 7 in Weston after he allegedly attempted to rob the PLS Payday Loan Store in Weston, made the pleas Friday in Marathon County Circuit Court. He admitted to robbing the store Sept. 29 and Oct. 19, according to police reports. Smith also is accused of committing armed robberies at the LaQuinta Inn Sept. 19, Charter Communications Sept. 20 and Southside Pharmacy Oct. 5; and is accused of burglarizing Blockbuster Video Sept. 18.”
Lincoln County: 2006, theft, criminal trespass
Lincoln County: 2008, armed robbery
Lincoln County: 2006, cocaine and THC possession
3. Sammy Cole
Convicted of Armed Robbery with Threat of Force in Calumet County case number 2001CF106; sentenced on December 21, 2001 to 35 years of confinement and 10 years of extended supervision. Mandatory Release/Extended Supervision Date: 09/13/2036
What He Did: Court records say, “In 2001, Cole held at gunpoint a woman withdrawing money at an ATM and demanded she give him $300. After the woman was unable to withdraw the amount from the ATM, Cole took $80 from the woman’s wallet and fled the scene. Cole later was interviewed by police and admitted to robbing the woman at gunpoint. The State charged Cole with armed robbery with threat of force as a repeater and with possession of a firearm by a felon as a repeater. Cole pled no contest to armed robbery as a repeater. The dismissed count of possession of a firearm by a felon as a repeater was to be ‘read-in’ for sentencing purposes.” He was labeled a habitual criminal.
He has a past record (confusing on CCAP due to different DOBS, but per the state offender database:)
1997: Burglary
1994: Forgery/uttering
1994: Uttering
1994: 2 counts Uttering
1998: Uttering
4. Christopher Sutton (Smith)
Convicted of three counts of Armed Robbery with Threat of Force in Milwaukee County case number 2001CF6402; sentenced on October 1, 2002 to 45 years of confinement and 15 years of extended supervision. Mandatory Release/Extended Supervision Date: 12/13/2047 (Judge Was Jean DiMotto, the same judge who slammed armed robber Pastor James Graham, who we wrote about previously.) Sutton Smith is today 51.
What he did: He appealed on the basis that his sentence was too harsh. “In addition to his criminal history, the trial court emphasized Smith’s repeated attempts to deflect blame, characterizing him as manipulative, conniving, and slick.” The trial court “characterized Smith as the ringleader, and it was mindful of his criminal conduct despite his parolee status, and his previous refusal to participate in rehabilitative programs, rendering him a greater societal risk than his accomplice.”
Victims were planning mother’s funeral.
“Each perpetrator threatened each victim with a gun, and demonstrated little patience or humanity in robbing each victim.”
“Smith and two accomplices were charged with three armed robberies with the threat of force, as a party to each crime. Smith’s two accomplices pled guilty to two armed robberies incident to a plea bargain pursuant to which one of the armed robberies was dismissed for each. One of the accomplices was sentenced to two ten-year consecutive sentences, comprised of two five-year respective periods of confinement and extended supervision; the other was sentenced to five- and thirteen-year sentences, comprised of confinement periods of one and nine years, and extended supervision of two four-year periods.”
“A jury found Smith guilty of three armed robberies with the threat of force as a party to each crime…The same trial judge who sentenced Smith’s two accomplices sentenced Smith to three twenty-year consecutive sentences, each comprised of fifteen- and five-year respective periods of confinement and extended supervision. Smith moved for sentence modification, alleging that his sentences were unduly and disparately harsh as compared to those of his two accomplices. The trial court denied the motion, explaining why it imposed lengthier sentences for Smith’s crimes…During the course of trial and at sentencing, the trial court became familiar with Smith, and was convinced that he has a criminal outlook and a criminal way of viewing things. It was also insulted by Smith’s flimsy, meager apology. These same character factors, which supported a harsher sentence, also demonstrate why the trial court imposed a harsher sentence on Smith than it did on his accomplices.”
5. Amanda Weaver
Convicted of five counts of Burglary-Building or Dwelling in Marinette County case number 2008CF65; sentenced on November 19, 2008 to 30 years of confinement and 20 years of extended supervision. Mandatory Release/Extended Supervision Date: 07/25/2039. She is age 44.
She was charged with 24 counts, but most were dismissed. A judge previously denied her motion for sentence adjustment.
Prior record
2004- two counts of burglary
6. Lawrence Northern
Convicted of Possess with Intent-Cocaine and Possess with Intent-Cocaine in Eau Claire County case number 2001CF580; sentenced on June 17, 2002 to 30 years of confinement and 10 years of extended supervision. Mandatory Release/Extended Supervision Date: 09/20/2031
What He Did: “Northern was charged on September 24, 2001. Fourteen other individuals were also charged in the complaint, some in separate counts and some in the same counts as Northern,” court records say. “The State charged Northern with six counts of possessing more than 100 grams of cocaine with intent to deliver it, one for each month between January and June 2001, and one count of possessing 15-40 grams of cocaine with intent to deliver it, committed on September 20, 2001. The amended information filed the next day not only dismissed the Peterson charges but also consolidated Northern’s six counts of possessing more than 100 grams of cocaine into one count, committed between January and September 2001. The amended information left Northern facing two charges, as it retained the charge of delivering a lesser amount of cocaine on September 20, 2001.”
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