Stephen Trattner

Background

Stephen L. Trattner was a project manager for Erin Hills Golf Course in the Town of Erin in Washington County. He had worked as a software programmer earlier and quit his job as a software programmer about 10 years before the killing to pursue developing golf courses.

Trattner was married to Sin Lam, 36. Friends and acquaintances described them as a composed husband and a giving wife, and they said Trattner and Lam had a long-troubled marriage. Trattner’s wife had sought a divorce first about five years earlier and on several occasions since. Trattner and Lam agreed to wait until after Christmas to file for divorce.

Lam’s confidants said Trattner was controlling and emotionally abusive, and that Lam had begun to feel inadequate and that she could not do anything right. Carmen Pitre, director of the Task Force on Family Violence in Milwaukee, said domestic violence happened behind closed doors and batterers led a double life.

People close to Lam said she had begun drinking heavily in recent years. Trattner had been drinking heavily in recent years and was often depressed, according to Niimi and friends. Mequon Police told Lai Niimi that alcohol was a factor in the homicide, while Mequon Police Detective Rick Schnell later said, “Alcohol does not appear to be a significant factor” in the killing.

Lam worked as a manager at Capital Returns, a Milwaukee-based pharmaceuticals company.

People described in the background

• Sin Lam, 36 — victim; Trattner’s wife.
• Stephen L. Trattner, 43 — defendant; project manager.
• Lai Niimi — Lam’s sister.
• Shailaja Reddy — lawyer who lived in the Town of Erin; recommended a divorce lawyer to Lam.
• Vidya Baliga — director of information technology and Lam’s supervisor at Capital Returns Inc.
• Diana Bartley — foreign language program director for the Mequon-Thiensville Recreation Department; said she had known Trattner all his life.
• Carmen Pitre — director of the Task Force on Family Violence in Milwaukee.
• Michael Fitzgerald — Trattner’s attorney.
• Ozaukee County District Attorney Sandy Williams — prosecutor.
• Marquette University Law School professor Dan Blinka — legal commentary on charging.
• Circuit Court Judge Paul V. Malloy — set bail and conditions at the initial court appearance.
• Circuit Court Judge Tom R. Wolfgram — sentenced Trattner.

The offence

Trattner became enraged after his wife asked for a divorce and after she struck him in the chest. Authorities said he threw her around their house, “pummeled” her face with his fist, and strangled her.

Police statements described actions including:

• Trattner grabbed Lam by the shoulders after she asked for a divorce.
• Lam struck Trattner in the chest.
• Trattner threw Lam against kitchen cabinets.
• Trattner banged her head on the floor between 10 and 20 times.
• Trattner punched her face for one to four minutes.
• Trattner “used his hands around her throat until she stopped moving.”

After the killing, Trattner covered Lam’s body with a blanket and left her lying on the living room floor.

Afterward, he got their children ready for school, ages 7 and 9, and told them not to disturb their mother. He then ran errands and had lunch with an acquaintance before calling police. Trattner told police he did not want to call the police because he was afraid he would go to jail.

At the sentencing, Ozaukee County Circuit Court Judge Tom R. Wolfgram described that Trattner beat Lam’s head against the floor repeatedly, pummeled her with his fists, and strangled her. Wolfgram said it took time and pressure to strangle someone to death. Wolfgram also described that Trattner left Lam on the floor, did not call police, got the children off to school, went to lunch with a friend, and placed sleeping pills next to Lam’s head to attempt to make it look like a suicide.

Verbatim quotations

Dan Blinka, Marquette University Law School professor, said:

“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.

Mequon Police Detective Rick Schnell said:

“Alcohol does not appear to be a significant factor” in the killing.

Investigation

Trattner told Mequon police that he was in the 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 explained that he strangled his wife because “her persistence about a divorce and breaking up their family drove him to the point where he did what he did.”

Trattner told authorities that he did not initially call police because he was afraid he would go to jail.

Verbatim quotations

Ozaukee County District Attorney Sandy Williams said in court:

“Given those types of actions, Mr. Trattner could be classified as a flight risk,”

Trattner told police:

“he did not want to call the police because he was afraid he would go to jail.”

Arrest

After the children were sent off to school, Trattner called police at 1 p.m. The next morning, as he got the children ready, he told them not to disturb their mother, who was lying on the living room floor under a blanket.

At an initial court appearance, Trattner wore an orange Ozaukee County Jail jumpsuit and listened to arguments via closed-circuit television, slumped in a chair.

A bail request included discussion that Trattner could be classified as a flight risk.

Bail and conditions

• Bail was set at $750,000 cash by Circuit Judge Paul V. Malloy.
• Malloy ordered that Trattner have no contact with his children.

A preliminary hearing was set for 9 a.m. Friday.

Trial

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.

Trattner’s charge was first-degree reckless homicide, which carries a maximum penalty of 60 years in prison.

Sentencing

On September 5, 2006, Ozaukee County Circuit Court Judge Tom R. Wolfgram sentenced Stephen L. Trattner to 35 years in prison with an additional 10 years extended supervision for savagely beating and killing his wife. Wolfgram said he hoped the passage of time would help the children and that he hoped they were resilient.

Wolfgram stated Trattner had a “stable marital relationship” up until Jan. 4, and that he was concerned about the need to protect the public and about Trattner’s lack of remorse.

Wolfgram said Trattner’s actions were selfish, depriving the children of their mother. He said there was no question about the severity of the case and who was responsible, stating “Stephen Trattner is, 100 percent.”

Wolfgram said the case was serious because Trattner repeatedly beat Lam’s head against the floor, pummeled her with his fists, and strangled her. Wolfgram said it took time for strangling to kill and that Trattner had time to stop and call police or call the rescue squad. Wolfgram also said the children could have been witnesses. Wolfgram described that Trattner did not call police, got the children off to school, went to lunch with a friend, and placed sleeping pills next to Lam’s head in a futile attempt to make it look like a suicide.

Verbatim quotations

Stephen L. Trattner said:

“I've been in jail for 9 months. Every day I've been in jail is the same as every other day,”
“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.”

Wolfgram said:

“I hope these children are resilient,”
“My hope is that the passage of time will help.”

Wolfgram said:

“I'm concerned of the need to protect the public,”
“I'm concerned for his lack of remorse. Anything less than a substantial amount of time would not be enough.”

Wolfgram said:

“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.”

Wolfgram said:

“He could've called police or called the rescue squad.”

Wolfgram said:

“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:

“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.”

Lai Niimi said:

“My sister was a loving mother, a good daughter and a great friend to many people,”
“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:

“He killed her a week before she was going to move out,”
“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.”

Michael J. Fitzgerald said:

“Sin talked about divorce, but he kept it in for a long time,”
“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.”

Ozaukee County District Attorney Sandy Williams read Trattner’s statement, including:

“He talks about how (Sin Lam) is tired and went upstairs to take a nap,”
“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:

“I totally overreacted,”
“I beat her and killed her in a fit of rage.”

Williams said:

“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:

“He would have quit hitting Sin Lam if she had told him to stop.”

Outcome

Trattner was sentenced on September 5, 2006 to 35 years in prison with an additional 10 years extended supervision after pleading no contest and being found guilty June 16 of first-degree reckless homicide.

Aftermath

A funeral was held for Sin Lam. Earlier Monday, almost 200 people attended funeral services for Lam at Schmidt and Bartelt Funeral Home. She was a native of Hong Kong and a manager at Capital Returns, a Milwaukee-based pharmaceuticals company.

Friends and neighbors 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, was charged in the killing of his wife.

At the sentencing, Wolfgram said Trattner could see his children if their therapist and Trattner's doctor or agent agreed to it.

Trattner’s lawyer and family members did not return phone calls on Wednesday.

Other details

Timeline of key dated events

• June 16 — Trattner pleaded no contest and was found guilty of first-degree reckless homicide.
• September 5, 2006 — Trattner was sentenced to 35 years in prison with an additional 10 years extended supervision.

Names and relationships referenced

• Trattner’s children — ages 7 and 9.
• Trattner and Lam lived on the 12600 block of Yvonne Drive in Mequon.
• Lam sought a divorce and had a deadline of Jan. 9 to begin divorce proceedings, as described by Shailaja Reddy.

Statements about the divorce

Niimi said:

“He knew she was going to ask for a divorce,”
and later said: and: “He walked past his dead wife and went to bed without remorse. This is premeditated.”

Shailaja Reddy said Lam told her she had given her husband a deadline of Jan. 9 to begin divorce proceedings.