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Woman appeals cold case conviction
After Linda La Roche was found guilty in a Racine County cold case, she is now appealing her homicide conviction, arguing she had ineffective trial attorneys.
RACINE COUNTY, Wis. - A woman is appealing her homicide conviction, arguing she had ineffective trial attorneys. Her current attorney is seeking a new trial.
Linda La Roche was defiant at her sentencing in May 2022. The now 68-year-old is in the process of appealing her conviction.
Peggy Lynn Johnson-Schroeder, Linda La Roche
A jury in Racine County found her guilty of first degree intentional homicide and hiding a corpse in the 1999 death of Peggy Lynn Johnson-Schroeder, who was La Roche's housekeeper. Johnson-Schroeder's body was found in a cornfield in Raymond.
In 2019, a tip came in that La Roche was telling people she killed a woman while living in McHenry County in Illinois. But her attorney argues her trial attorneys were ineffective.
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"This isn't justice. I didn't do it," La Roche told the court in 2022. "I'm innocent, going to fight this 'til the end."
Laura Walker was La Roche’s first attorney before two other attorneys took over the case and took it to trial. They didn’t mount a defense case.
"I’m firmly convinced that Linda Sue La Roche didn’t commit this murder," Walker said. "There was no physical evidence, and there was nothing that was put on [in the defense’s case]."
Walker is asking a court to grant a new trial, arguing La Roche trial attorneys should have called witnesses about Johnson-Schroeder's death, and said they didn't cross-examine prosecution witnesses.
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Walker also said they didn't look into the discovery of a woman's body in Waukegan around the same time, that bore similar injuries to Johnson-Schroeder.
Racine County cold case; Linda La Roche sentenced to life in prison
A Racine County judge sentenced Linda La Roche on Monday, May 23 to life in prison without any chance for parole.
"They didn’t even try to have it introduced at trial. And I’m saying, if they did, it would have changed the outcome – or at least could have," Walker said.
La Roche’s trial attorneys declined to comment on the appeal, but told FOX6 News they "provided Ms. La Roche with the best defense that was available to her."
La Roche has a motion hearing set for later this month.