A Waupaca man will serve two years in prison, followed by three years of extended supervision, after a jury found him guilty of perjury in connection with the hit-and-run death of Kevin McCoy.
Waupaca County Circuit Court Judge Phillip Kirk sentenced Walter J. Engel Monday, May 3. following a jury trial in April.
In March 2009, prosecutors and special agents from the state Department of Justice’s Division of Criminal Investigation, in cooperation with the Waupaca County Sheriff’s Department, requested that Kirk convene a John Doe proceeding into the circumstances surrounding McCoy’s 2004 death.
Based in part on testimony provided during that John Doe proceeding, a jury convicted Rory A. Kuenzi of homicide charges after a jury trial before Kirk.
The criminal complaint charged Kuenzi with hit and run resulting in death and homicide by intoxicated use of a motor vehicle in the Oct. 23, 2004, death of McCoy, whose body was found just north of State Highway 54 in the town of Farmington.
Engel allegedly made false statements while under oath at the John Doe proceeding and was also bound over for trial at the December 2009 joint preliminary hearing.
At Engel’s jury trial, Adam Klotzbuecher testified that he observed Kuenzi, who was intoxicated, leave an underage drinking party driving his S10 truck southbound on Butt’s Drive.
Klotzbuecher testified he heard a thump; saw a shoe come up from Kuenzi’s truck; and that Kuenzi then stopped and got out of his truck.
Klotzbuecher testified Kuenzi, with Klotzbuecher’s assistance, carried McCoy’s body off of the road. Kuenzi then left that location without leaving any information concerning his identity, and did not render any assistance to McCoy.
Witnesses at the party indicate Kuenzi was intoxicated when he left the party. The jury heard that Engel testified at the John Doe proceeding and made false material statements at that hearing, saying Kuenzi and Klotzbuecher never stopped after McCoy was struck and killed.
Assistant state attorney generals Jeffrey Gabrysiak and Dennis Krueger represented the state in the case.