Wisconsin man gets life sentence in 2021 killings of 3 men whose bodies were found outside quarry
LA CROSSE, Wis. — A man charged in the 2021 fatal shootings of three men whose bodies were found outside a Wisconsin quarry has been sentenced to life in prison.
A La Crosse County judge sentenced Khamthaneth Rattanasack to life in prison on Monday, specifying that the Wausau man cannot seek parole until he has served 35 years in prison, news outlets reported.
Rattanasack, 46, pleaded guilty in October to one count of first-degree intentional homicide as an accessory to a crime. In return, prosecutors agreed to drop two other murder charges he faced in the July 2021 shootings of Peng Lor and Nemo Yang, both 24, and Trevor Maloney, 23.
Their bodies were found outside the entrance to a quarry near West Salem, a village about 14 miles northeast of La Crosse along the Minnesota border.
Prosecutors have said Rattanasack believed at least one of the men stole $600 from him.
Rattanasack and 36-year-old Nya Thao of Onalaska were both charged with the murder.
A woman who had been with the three victims told police that Rattanasack ordered the three men to get on their knees before he gave Thao a gun and Thao shot them several times.
La Crosse County Circuit Court Judge Elliott Levine described the killings as “senseless, ridiculous, horrible, horrible acts.”
Thao’s case went to trial in June 2023 and ended in a hung jury. Prosecutors have decided to retry the case and Thao’s second trial will begin on August 5 with jury selection.