The first-degree intentional homicide trial for Kevin Lychwick, the Waukesha man charged in the death of a man whose body was found near the apartment building where they both lived, will now take place over five days in early February.
Lychwich, now 63, initially charged Dec. 9 with hiding a corpse and then with an additional count in an amended complaint the following day, had been expected to stand trial beginning on Sept. 8. A change of his defense attorney, at his request, forced a new trial schedule.
The case is tied to the death of Carlos Maldonado, 56, whose badly decomposed body was found wrapped in a tarp Oct. 30, 2024, in a wooded area behind an apartment building in the 1500 block of East North Street. He had been shot in the head and torso. Based on medical examiner reports and a six-week investigation by Waukesha police, his body was believed to have been placed there six months earlier.
Authorities contend that Maldonado was among the people included on a “hit list” kept by Lychwick.
According to the criminal complaint, Waukesha police tied Lychwick to the discovery of Maldonado’s body using video evidence from surveillance cameras, which showed Lychwick coming to and from the wooded area on several occasions. In addition, a gun that ballistic testing matched to the two bullets recovered from the body was found in Lychwick’s vehicle on Dec. 2. Duct tape and ropes similar to those found around the body were also in his possession.
The case has moved slowly through Waukesha County Circuit Court, despite the defense’s request at one point for a speedy trial.
Lychwick was bound over for trial on Dec. 23, 2024, following a preliminary hearing. But over the ensuing eight months the case was affected by an unsuccessful defense motion to suppress certain evidence, the assignment of a new trial judge (following David Maas’s election to Bridget Schoenborn’s seat) and Lychwick’s request to change his public defender.
His new attorney, Pablo Galaviz, was appointed Aug. 14 and is currently reviewing discovery materials and evidence presented earlier in the year, prompting the trial’s postponement, according to online court records.
In a Sept. 8 status hearing, Maas set a new trial schedule. It will now run from Feb. 2-6, following a Jan. 12 jury status hearing. Lychwick remains in custody in the Waukesha County Jail on a $5 million cash bond.
Contact reporter Jim Riccioli at james.riccioli@jrn.com.
link