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Stephen
L. TRATTNER
Classification: Murderer
Characteristics:
Parricide
Number of victims: 1
Date of murder:
January 4,
2006
Date of arrest:
Next day (surrenders)
Date of birth: 1962
Victim profile: Sin Lam,
36 (his wife)
Method of murder: Strangulation
Location: Mequon, Wisconsin, USA
Status:
Sentenced to 35 years in prison on September 5, 2006
Man charged in wife's strangulation
He became enraged when she asked for a divorce,
complaint says
By Dan Benson - Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Jan. 9, 2006
Port Washington - After a Mequon man's wife asked for a
divorce Wednesday night and struck him in the chest, he became enraged
and threw her around their house, "pummeled" her face with his fist and
strangled her, according to a criminal complaint filed Monday in Ozaukee
County Circuit Court.
Stephen L. Trattner, 43, "wasn't completely
positive if he killed her but . . . he had a pretty good idea she
was dead," the complaint says.
Authorities say he covered the body of his wife, Sin
Lam, 36, with a blanket and left her lying on the living room floor. The
next morning, as he got his children, ages 7 and 9, ready for school, he
told them to not disturb their mother, Ozaukee County District Attorney
Sandy Williams said in court Monday.
Trattner was charged Monday with first-degree
reckless homicide, which carries a maximum penalty of 60 years in prison.
Williams did not respond to telephone and e-mail
queries on the charge.
Even though it might appear from the criminal
complaint that Trattner intended to kill his wife, Marquette University
Law School professor Dan Blinka called it appropriate that Trattner was
charged with reckless, and not intentional, homicide.
That's because one defense against intentional
homicide is "adequate provocation," meaning the victim might have done
something to provoke the defendant and caused him to lose self-control.
"It used to be called 'heat of passion,' when someone
is in a position of extreme emotional upset. The state would have to
disprove that the defendant was emotionally upset" to make a charge of
intentional homicide stick, Blinka said.
Reckless homicide requires prosecutors prove only
that the defendant's actions show a disregard for human life.
According to the complaint, Trattner told Mequon
police that he was in the couple's kitchen in their house on the 12600
block of Yvonne Drive in Mequon about 10:45 p.m. Wednesday when his wife
told him she wanted a divorce.
Trattner grabbed her by the shoulders, and she hit
him on his chest. He threw her against some kitchen cabinets, banged her
head on the floor 10 to 20 times and punched her face, the complaint
says. He "used his hands around her throat until she stopped moving,"
the complaint says.
Police say Trattner told them he strangled her
because "her persistence about a divorce and breaking up their family
drove him to the point where he did what he did."
Trattner went to bed, slept until 7 a.m. Thursday and
woke up and got the couple's two children ready for school and put them
on a school bus.
After the children were gone, Trattner ran errands,
including having lunch with an acquaintance, Williams said in court.
When he returned home about 1 p.m., he called police.
In the complaint, Trattner said "he did not want to
call the police because he was afraid he would go to jail."
"Given those types of actions, Mr. Trattner could be
classified as a flight risk," Williams told Circuit Judge Paul V. Malloy
in arguing for a substantial cash bail.
Trattner's attorney, Michael Fitzgerald, asked that
Trattner be released on a signature bond based on his lack of a criminal
history and his standing in the community, noting that the courtroom
Monday was packed with Trattner's family and friends.
However, Malloy set bail at $750,000 cash. He also
ordered that Trattner have no contact with his children.
Trattner listened to the arguments in court via
closed-circuit television, slumped in a chair and wearing an orange
Ozaukee County Jail jumpsuit.
A preliminary hearing has been set for 9 a.m. Friday.
Funeral held for Lam
Earlier Monday morning, almost 200 people attended
funeral services for Lam, according to a spokesman at Schmidt and
Bartelt Funeral Home, where services were held.
She was a native of Hong Kong and a manager at
Capital Returns, a Milwaukee-based pharmaceuticals company.
Neighbors and friends said they were shocked by the
news that Trattner, a project manager for Erin Hills Golf Course in the
Town of Erin in Washington County, is charged in the killing of his wife.
Among them is Diana Bartley, foreign language program
director for the Mequon-Thiensville Recreation Department, who said she
has known Trattner all his life and as a volunteer with a children's
Spanish study group.
"Steve Trattner is the most composed individual I
have ever met. He has always been a very mild-mannered individual. I
suppose any human being could snap, but that this could happen is
incredulous. This is completely out of character," she said.
Sin Lam, 36, the victim.
Wife's confidants knew of troubles
They say Stephen Trattner was controlling,
emotionally abusive
By Dan Benson - Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Jan. 11, 2006
To friends and acquaintances, Stephen L. Trattner was
a composed and quiet man who never raised his voice or became excited, a
model husband and father ready to lend a helping hand to neighbors or at
his children's school.
Likewise, his wife, Sin Lam, was, as dozens of online
memorials attest, a giving, open, always smiling person who never had a
bad thing to say about anyone.
How then, some of their friends wonder, can one
explain the events of Jan. 4, when Trattner is accused of flying into a
murderous rage, savagely beating his wife and strangling her because, he
told investigators, she wanted a divorce?
To Sin Lam's sister, Lai Niimi, and close friends,
last week's killing was the horrific, and perhaps inevitable, end of a
long-troubled marriage between a Hong Kong-born wife who they said was
made to feel inadequate by a controlling and emotionally abusive,
underemployed husband who had begun to drink heavily in recent years.
"He knew she was going to ask for a divorce," said
Niimi, who last talked to her sister on New Year's Day.
A divorce was something Lam, 36, had first sought
five years ago, and on several occasions since.
But this time, it appeared inevitable, Niimi said.
The couple had agreed, she said, at Trattner's urging, to wait until
after Christmas to file for divorce.
"I told her to be careful, because you don't know how
he will respond," Niimi said.
Shailaja Reddy said Lam told her she had given her
husband a deadline of Jan. 9 to begin divorce proceedings.
"He could no longer stop her. He could not talk her
out of it and he could no longer control his rage," said Reddy, a lawyer
who lives in the Town of Erin and who had recommended a divorce lawyer
to Lam on Dec. 5.
Trattner, 43, has been charged with one count of
first-degree reckless homicide in connection with Sin Lam's death. He
could be imprisoned 60 years if found guilty.
According to a criminal complaint filed Monday in
Ozaukee County Circuit Court, Trattner flew into a rage when his wife
broached the subject of divorce.
He threw her against some kitchen cabinets, banged
her head on the floor 10 to 20 times, hit her repeatedly in the face,
then "used his hands around her throat until she stopped moving," the
complaint says.
Police say Trattner told them he strangled her
because "her persistence about a divorce and breaking up their family
drove him to the point where he did what he did."
Trattner went to bed and slept until 7 a.m., when he
got the couple's two children ready for school, telling them to not
disturb their mother, who was lying under a blanket on the living room
floor.
Trattner then ran errands, including having lunch
with an acquaintance, before calling police at 1 p.m., officials say.
A long-troubled marriage
Reddy, who had known Lam for about 10 years since
they worked together at Strong Investments Inc. in Menomonee Falls, said
Lam and Trattner's marriage had been in trouble for at least five years.
"Part of it she told me, part of it I observed,"
Reddy said. "You have to understand, Sin was someone who never said
anything negative about anybody, not even her husband."
But five years ago, Lam said "her heart wasn't in it
and she felt no affection for him anymore," Reddy said.
"She tried to make it work for the kids," Reddy said.
Reddy said she knew Trattner "as a very polite and
nice person. I felt very comfortable around him."
But, from what she knew as Lam's friend, Trattner "controlled
what she thought, what she did and how she did it," Reddy said.
"She had begun to believe that anything of hers was
of no consequence. She couldn't do anything right. She wasn't a good
enough mother. Her foreignness made her unsuitable as a mother. It was
psychological and emotional abuse, although Sin wouldn't phrase it that
way."
"He's composed in front of other people. At home he
is not," said Niimi, who lives in Oregon, but was in Milwaukee this week
to attend her sister's funeral on Monday.
That's not unusual, said Carmen Pitre, director of
the Task Force on Family Violence in Milwaukee.
"It did not surprise me to hear that he was abusive
to her but that the community did not see that side of him," Pitre said.
"Domestic violence happens behind closed doors, so
batterers lead this double life."
Trattner's lawyer, Michael Fitzgerald, and Trattner's
family members did not return phone calls Wednesday.
Husband downsized his career
Further straining the marriage was that, against his
wife's wishes, Trattner quit his job as a software programmer about 10
years ago to pursue - at a far smaller and less regular salary -
developing golf courses, most recently as part-time project manager for
Erin Hills Golf Course in Washington County.
That made Lam the family's primary breadwinner, said
Niimi and Vidya Baliga, director of information technology and Lam's
supervisor at Capital Returns Inc., a pharmaceutical company in
Milwaukee, who said Lam confided to her that her husband was no longer
supporting the family.
Questions about alcohol use
Trattner also had begun to drink heavily in recent
years and was often depressed, according to Niimi and friends.
Reddy said the first time she ever heard Lam say
anything derogatory about Trattner was last April in regards to his
drinking. "She said, 'All he does is drink these days,' " Reddy said.
Niimi said Mequon Police told her that alcohol was a
factor in the homicide.
However, Mequon Police Detective Rick Schnell said
Wednesday that "Alcohol does not appear to be a significant factor" in
the killing.
Baliga said Lam told her two years ago that Trattner
got drunk and became very angry.
"I never got that feeling" that Lam felt threatened,
however, Baliga said.
"I wish I could say I had, so that I could have done
something about it," Baliga said.
Trattner gets 35 years in wife’s murder
Judge calls man ‘selfish’ for killing children’s
mother
By Ed Zagorski - GM Today Staff - September 7, 2006
PORT WASHINGTON - Steve L. Trattner wept while trying
to read a statement in court Wednesday morning before he was sentenced
to 35 years in prison for strangling his wife in their Mequon home in
early January.
Trattner, 44, sat quietly with his head down for much
of the hearing and was visibly red and trembling as he asked his family
and friends for forgiveness.
"I've been in jail for 9 months. Every day I've been
in jail is the same as every other day," Trattner said. "I can't even
socialize with the other inmates. I just sit in my cell all day long. I
wake up in the morning and think of how unfair it is that I'm alive.
When I do my exercise, I think of how it's not fair that Sin can't
rollerblade or do yoga. I want everyone to know my sorrow and regret."
Trattner pleaded no contest and was found guilty June
16 of first-degree reckless homicide in the death of his 36-year-old
wife, Sin Lam.
On Wednesday, Ozaukee County Circuit Court Judge Tom
R. Wolfgram sentenced Trattner to 35 years in prison with an additional
10 years extended supervision for savagely beating and killing his wife.
He could see his children if their therapist and Trattner's doctor or
agent agree to it.
"I hope these children are resilient," Wolfgram said.
"My hope is that the passage of time will help."
He said Trattner had a "stable marital relationship"
up until Jan. 4
"I'm concerned of the need to protect the public,"
Wolfgram said. "I'm concerned for his lack of remorse. Anything less
than a substantial amount of time would not be enough."
When Sin Lam told him she wanted a divorce, Trattner
threw her to the floor, banged her head on the floor between 10 and 20
times, punched her in the face for one to four minutes and then
strangled her to death, according to statements he gave to police.
After killing his wife around 10:45 p.m. Jan. 4,
Trattner covered her with blankets and went to his bedroom for the rest
of the night, where he slept until 7 a.m. The following morning he got
his two children ready and sent them off to school, telling them not to
bother their mother who was still lying on the floor near the couch of
the couple's home in the 12600 block of Yvonne Drive.
Trattner then went on some errands and had lunch with
a friend before coming home and calling the police. He told police he
did not immediately call them because he was afraid he would go to jail.
According to the criminal complaint, Trattner said he
killed Lam because she "had just pushed him to the breaking point and
her persistence about a divorce and breaking up their family drove him
to the point where he did what he did."
Sister: Divorce inevitable
Sin Lam's sister, Lai Niimi of Portland, Ore., said
at the sentencing Trattner knew of the divorce Sin wanted.
"My sister was a loving mother, a good daughter and a
great friend to many people," she said. "My sister was the only family I
had in this country. I miss talking to her and planning vacations with
her. I even miss fighting with her and knowing at the end of the day we
can still love one another. We talked about planning our retirements
together, but now all I can think about is how she died - how he put his
hands around her neck and squeezed and squeezed and squeezed until she
died. This is not a crime of passion where he found his wife cheating
and shot her in the head."
Niimi said Trattner knew the divorce was inevitable.
"He killed her a week before she was going to move
out," she said. "He walked past his dead wife and went to bed without
remorse. This is premeditated. He sits here today looking contrite. My
sister doesn't get to sit here and tell her side of the story. He is
proven to be an abuser and a murderer. He doesn't deserve to be a father."
Trattner's attorney, Michael J. Fitzgerald, who had
asked for a 10- to 15-year sentence for his client, said Wednesday when
Trattner was examined by doctors they found he didn't have an "outlet
for his negative feelings."
"Sin talked about divorce, but he kept it in for a
long time," Fitzgerald said. "I believe as the doctors do that something
triggered Steve to do what he did. (Trattner) has never done well with
conflict, and it built up inside of him and he lost control. Something
happened in that argument that was entirely foreign to him. This
happened all so fast. I don't think he wanted to believe he had just
killed his wife. He couldn't from a psychological level. I don't think
his mind fully grasped what happened. He is a pacifist. This is a person
who doesn't kill a chipmunk in his back yard."
'I overreacted'
Ozaukee County District Attorney Sandy Williams read
the statement that Trattner gave to Mequon police following his arrest.
"He talks about how (Sin Lam) is tired and went
upstairs to take a nap," Williams read. "I began to wash some dirty
dishes then Sin Lam came shouting at me telling me the divorce will be
final in two months. I grabbed hold of her and she looked at the kitchen
counter where the knives were. I went absolutely berserk and slammed her
head multiple times on the floor and I hit her over and over again. I
completely panicked and could not believe what I did. I dragged her back
to the couch. I could hardly sleep all night. I knew 100 percent that
she was dead."
Williams said Trattner told police that he got his
two young children fed and off to school before he contacted the power
company and had lunch with a friend. She said Trattner also told police
he placed some sleeping pills next to his wife's head to make it look as
if she committed suicide.
"I totally overreacted," Williams read from
Trattner's police statement. "I beat her and killed her in a fit of rage."
Williams said Trattner had "absolutely no concern"
for his wife, but only the punishment he could face if he called for
help.
"He writes what happens to him," she said. "He goes
to bed that night. He never checked on Sin. He never rendered any aid to
her."
Williams said Trattner wrote in the report he would
have quit hitting Sin Lam if she had told him to stop.
Before rendering his sentence, Wolfgram said this
particular case is a "serious" one for multiple reasons.
"He beat her head against the floor repeatedly,
pummeled her with his fists and then strangled her," Wolfgram said. "It
takes a great deal of pressure and time to strangle some to death. It's
not like the movies where it's quick. It takes time. Mr. Trattner had
plenty of time to stop what he was doing and she could've survived. He
could've called police or called the rescue squad."
He said the case was also serious in the fact that
the children could've been witnesses to it.
"It doesn't end there. He leaves her on the floor. He
doesn't call police," Wolfgram said. "He gets the children off to school
and then goes to lunch with a friend. And then he puts sleeping pills
next to her in a futile attempt to make it look like a suicide. If he
was believing this, he was only fooling himself and not fooling me."
Wolfgram said Trattner wanted everyone to think if
Sin Lam asked him to stop hitting her he would have stopped.
"If someone is hitting you and beating you - you are
going to want them to stop," Wolfgram said. "This is just an example of
Mr. Trattner's lack of empathy. His actions were selfish. His actions
deprieved the children of their mother. There is no question to the
severity of this; and who is responsible for this? Stephen Trattner is,
100 percent."