Crime and Court Roundup: Milwaukee man gets life in prison for killing ex-girlfriend

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MILWAUKEE - A man was sentenced to life in prison yesterday for killing a Milwaukee school teacher.

But Circuit Judge Richard Sankovitz gave 37-year-old Benedict Savage a chance to be released under extended supervision in 2049, when he’s 74. Prosecutors said Savage stabbed 34-year-old Rebecca Manzke to death last June, because she wanted to end their relationship. The killing took place in a house she shared with her two young kids. Manzke was a special education teacher at the Audubon Technology-and-Communication High School, which is part of the Milwaukee school district.

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A 35-year-old man was shot-and-killed on a busy street in Milwaukee yesterday afternoon. Police said the victim was shot after a short confrontation with the killer. It happened about 1:30 p-m on North 76th Street on Milwaukee’s northwest side. Police were still looking for the shooter at last word.

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An eastern Wisconsin man will spend six months in jail for beating his puppy to death, instead of following an order by the police to give up the pet. 19-year-old James Albright III of Omro was also put on three years’ probation yesterday. He must perform 100 hours of community service – and he cannot own any animals for five years. Police told Albright and his roommate to get rid of two dogs last September because of poor living conditions. Albright later attacked his Rottweiler-mix named Harley with a baseball bat in a field and said quote, “If I can’t have Harley, nobody can.” Winnebago County Circuit Judge Karen Seifert called the actions violent, senseless, and pre-meditated – but she said probation would give Albright a chance to get counseling while being supervised. And if he doesn’t follow the rules, he’ll be jailed for a longer period.

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The Milwaukee Catholic Archdiocese will ask a bankruptcy judge today to reject three compensation claims sought by victims of priest sex abuse. The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel says the church will claim that the victims knew enough about the way the church handled their cases to file their fraud claims up to a decade ago. And as a result, the church will argue that the statute-of-limitations had expired long before the victims came forward. The paper said the legal strategy was outlined in newly-disclosed bankruptcy records -- and if the first three compensation claims are thrown out, the church might use the same strategy to nullify almost all of the 550 damage claims made recently by abuse victims as part of the church’s Chapter-11 financial re-organization. The archdiocese said it did everything it could to encourage victims to file those claims. But Sheboygan priest James Connell said that if the archdiocese planned all along to throw out the claims, then quote, “Shame on all involved for having raised the hopes of many people, survivors and non-survivors alike – and then shattering those hopes.” The church said it already paid a settlement to one of the three victims involved in today’s hearing. But attorney Jeffrey Anderson says the settlement should be thrown out, claiming the archdiocese misrepresented facts to the victim when making that deal.

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Three UW-Madison students have been arrested for the sexual assault of a woman in a campus dorm last September. All three suspects are 18, and from the Milwaukee area. They were booked into the Dane County Jail last evening on possible charges of second-degree sexual assault. Campus police said all three knew the woman – and she was not a UW student. Sergeant Aaron Chapin said the investigation continues, and it was only now when officers felt they had enough information to make the arrest.

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