Kutska's ex-wife: 2 key witnesses lied - Green Bay Press Gazette
Two key witnesses in the state's Tom Monfils murder case lied on the witness stand 20 years ago, the ex-wife of key defendant Keith Kutska testified Wednesday. Ardis Kutska was the fifth and last witnesses to testify in the first of three days of hearings to determine if Keith Kutska will have a new trial. Part of Kutska's conviction was based on testimony from co-worker Brian Kellner and his wife, Verna. They testified they and the Kutskas were at an Oconto County tavern in July 1994 when Kutska described Monfils' death and a beating that preceded that death. According to the Kellners' testimony, Kutska got people in the bar to represent Monfils and other workers in a kind of re-enactment to demonstrate an altercation between the workers and Monfils. She said she wanted to testify to that fact at the 1995 trial but that Kutska's lawyer, Royce Finne, declined to call her as witness, saying no one would believe her. She described Brian Kellner, who died in March 2014, as "a nice guy, but I think he wanted people to, I don't know, he wanted to make people like him or be important to everybody. Under cross examination by Brown County District Attorney David Lasee, Ardis Kutska said she couldn't remember if she ever told any other lawyers during Keith Kutska's appeal process that the Kellners lied. Source: www.greenbaypressgazette.com
