Franklin motel homicide; Orlando Pacheco sentenced to life in prison

MILWAUKEE - A Milwaukee County judge sentenced Orlando Pacheco on Friday, Nov. 22 to life in prison in connection with the homicide of a woman found in a Franklin motel in January.

Pacheco pleaded no contest in September to a single charge of first-degree intentional homicide. Eight other charges filed against Pacheco were dismissed and read into the court record for the purposes of sentencing.  

Case details

Court filings say 41-year-old Michele Fisher was strangled to death. Prosecutors charged Pacheco with her death.

Scene at Modern 41 Motel in Franklin. (Jan. 5, 2024)

In the early morning of Jan. 5, 2024, Franklin police were called to the Modern 41 Motel near 27th and Ryan. Filings say another person who lived at the motel found Fisher's body in a room and that police found Fisher with a belt around her neck.

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Pacheco was later arrested at a Milwaukee bus stop. A woman with him said Pacheco hired her for sex on Greenfield Avenue, choked her with a belt, and sexually assaulted her.

Court documents say police found a video on Pacheco's phone, that video taken inside the motel room showed Pacheco assaulting Fisher, as she pleaded for him to stop.