Welch waives preliminary hearing
Justin Patrick Welch of California, who is charged with the murder of Kimberly Smith of Oconomowoc, waived his preliminary hearing in Waukesha Thursday. He entered a plea of not guilty and was bound over for trial.
Welch is being held on $2 million bail after he escaped from authorities while he was being transported from San Diego, Calif., back to Wisconsin. He was captured Jan. 13 in Oklahoma.
Smith's former boyfriend and the father of her son, Darren M. Wold, 41, of Texas, is accused of hiring Welch, through his longtime friend Jack E. Johnson, 65, of Mexico.
According to prosecutors, Wold was angry over a custody dispute involving his 4-year-old son. Wold is alleged to have transferred money to Johnson, who in turn purchased a plane ticket for Welch to fly from San Diego to Milwaukee on Sept. 29. Wold sent $200 to Johnson on that day, and he sent it to an Oak Creek bank where Welch allegedly picked it up. Welch stayed in an Oconomowoc hotel Sept. 30 and left the morning of Oct. 1, flying from Mitchell International Airport to San Diego.
Authorities picked up Johnson while he was trying to cross into the U.S. from Mexico on Nov. 18. Welch was also arrested that day trying to cross the border, but not before he tried to flee police in a high-speed chase in Mexico, according to Assistant District Attorney Andrea Will.
Watch for an update to this story when a trial date is set.
E-mail Newsletter
Top stories from the Lake Country area. Tuesday afternoons and Thursday mornings.
Enter your e-mail address above and click "Sign Up Now!" to begin receiving your e-mail newsletter
Get the Newsletter!
» OHS girls softball team wins league title
» Blue Sox only undefeated LOL West team
» Family pizza business opens in Oconomowoc
» Walmart, Sam's Club stores proposed for Pabst Farms in Oconomowoc
» Waukesha County surgeon indicted; health care fraud alleged
» Hartland motorcyclist killed in Tuesday accident
» Oconomowoc ski hill won't open this season
» Mukwonago Community Choir in concert this weekend
» Hirschfeld commits to Wisconsin
» Mukwonago holds hazardous waste collection this Saturday
» Siergiej resigns at Arrowhead
» Dine out to support disaster relief
MORE: See full gallery
SUBMIT: Post Your Photos now
Do you have news or a nonprofit event that you would like to share with the community? Whether it's a community organization, a business, a local school, or a notable neighbor, we'd love to hear about it.
- MainStage Dancers Perform at OAC May 26th
- FREE Organic Lawn Care Workshops This Saturday!
- Little Treasures Launches Summer Camp June 10-August 30th, 2013
- Hamilton announces April students of the month
- Learn to skate
- Christ the King Church Announces Vacation Bible School Schedule
- Birth to 3 Walk on June 1st Frame Park
- Waukesha County HeartChase is June 22
MORE: See the rest of Your Stories
SUBMIT: Post Your Story now
Lake Country residents share their views on news, happenings and current events.
LivingLakeCountry.com features more than a dozen community bloggers - a group of volunteer conversation leaders who are up on the latest topics and never short on an opinion. Just a few are pictured here. Check out the rest and see what they have to say!
View All Blogs
Discussion Guidelines
Do you want to become a Community Blogger? LivingLakeCountry.com welcomes your thoughts and opinions. Contact us for more information:
I want to blog
Information on Mukwonago Publications
Find metroparent locations
We encourage your comments but will strive to remove discussion that contains personal attacks, racial slurs, profanity or other inappropriate material as outlined in our guidelines. We post-moderate comments on most content, but may choose to pre-moderate some comments so please be patient if you don't see yours appear right way. We also ask for your help by reporting comments you think are inappropriate.
Please login or register to post a comment.