After three hours of deliberations a jury from Vilas County has found a 30-year-old man guilty in the 2009 death of an elderly woman. The trial wrapped up Friday in Sawyer County.
According to WEAU-TV, Christopher Roalson, 30, was found guilty of 1st degree intentional homicide and burglary after prosecutors says he and another man broke into the Radisson home of 93-year-old Irena Roszak and stabbed her death.
Sawyer County Sheriff Jim Meier says Roalson and the then 15-year-old boy were acquaintances. Deputies say the elderly woman had about 15 stab wounds. The sheriff says there were satanic overtones in the murder.
Austin Davis, now 18, of Ojibwa, was also convicted in the crime and was sentenced to 25 years in prison for his involvement in Rozak’s death.
According to WEAU-TV, when asked about the night of Roszak’s death, Davis told the court that he had thought he and Roalson were just going to burglarize the house. He also said that he didn’t know if Roalson planned to do anything else there. Davis says Roalson seemed “happy and cheery” after they left Roszak’s home that night, and that Roalson went on to say that he was Satan’s son.
A Vilas County jury is hearing the case because of recent media coverage.
A sentencing hearing hasn’t been scheduled, but is expected in another two months.
Radisson is 30 miles southeast of Hayward.
