Antonio Barbeau pleads no contest, sentencing set for August

SHEBOYGAN CO. (WITI) -- Antonio Barbeau, one of the two teenagers accused of killing an elderly Sheboygan woman, pleaded no contest to first-degree intentional homicide in a Sheboygan County courtroom on Tuesday, June 4th. It was part of a plea deal.

Barbeau and Nathan Paape are charged with first-degree intentional homicide for allegedly bludgeoning to death 78-year-old Barbara Olson (Barbeau’s great-grandmother) at her Sheboygan Falls home in September 2012 with a hammer and hatchet.

With the plea deal, Barbeau changed his plea from not guilty by mental disease or defect to no contest. Barbeau will be eligible for parole in 35 years. He will also testify in Paape's trial, which is set to begin on June 17th.

Barbeau's family contends he suffers from mental illness. But Sheboygan County District Attorney Joe DeCecco said that played no role in his decision to make the plea agreement.

"I could not subscribe to the fact that someone has a concussion three years earlier somehow can’t  control himself to the point where he would allegedly or not allegedly any more he plead in kill his great grandmother. Sorry I don’t buy it," said DeCecco.

Barbeau will be sentenced on Monday, August 12th.

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