Nathan Paape Case: Trial, Sentence, and Appeals

The Nathan Paape case is a Wisconsin murder prosecution in which a 13-year-old boy was tried as an adult, convicted of party to first-degree intentional homicide for the September 2012 hammer-and-hatchet killing of his friend’s 78-year-old great-grandmother in Sheboygan Falls, and sentenced to life in prison with his first chance at release set for December 2, 2043. Paape’s constitutional challenges to that sentence were rejected by the Wisconsin Court of Appeals in 2017 and by a federal district court in 2022.

The Crime

On September 17, 2012, Paape and his friend Antonio Barbeau, both 13, went to the home of Barbara Olson, Barbeau’s great-grandmother. According to the criminal complaint, Barbeau had told Paape that Olson “was somewhat rich and could be killed for money.”¹ The boys hid a hatchet and a hammer in their clothing. Paape’s mother, not knowing what they planned, drove them from Sheboygan to Olson’s house in Sheboygan Falls. They walked in through an unlocked garage door, and Olson invited them inside.²

When Olson turned her back, Barbeau struck her with the blunt end of the hatchet. Paape hit her twice in the head with the hammer. Barbeau then swung the sharp side of the hatchet, burying the blade in her skull, and the two boys worked together to pull it free.³ The medical examiner counted 27 blows, 18 of them to the head.¹

Once Olson was dead, they ransacked the house and took jewelry, a purse with about $150, and loose change. They tried to load her body into the trunk of her car but could not lift her, so they left her in the garage. Paape then drove Olson’s car back to Sheboygan, sitting on a pillow to reach the pedals.² The next day, the boys drove the car to a bowling alley, wiped it down, and left it unlocked with the stolen jewelry and purse inside, hoping a thief would take it and be blamed for the killing.⁴ It didn’t work. Police found the purse in a storm sewer, recovered the murder weapons from the trunk, and found a school paper inside marked “Nate.”¹ A relative discovered Olson’s body in her garage several days later.⁵

Why a 13-Year-Old Was Tried as an Adult

Both boys were charged with one count of first-degree intentional homicide, party to a crime, a Class A felony that carries a mandatory life sentence.² Under Wisconsin law, the adult circuit court has original jurisdiction over any juvenile charged with first-degree intentional homicide committed on or after that juvenile’s tenth birthday. At 13, Paape was automatically charged as an adult.

His attorneys filed a “reverse waiver” motion to move the case to juvenile court. To win it, Paape had to show that adult-system treatment would be inadequate, that transfer would not depreciate the seriousness of the offense, and that keeping the case in adult court was not needed to deter other juveniles. Sheboygan County Circuit Judge Timothy Van Akkeren denied the motion on February 5, 2013, and the Court of Appeals refused to take up an interlocutory challenge on April 4, 2013.⁶

The Trial

Paape’s trial ran from June 17 through June 20, 2013, before Judge Van Akkeren, with Sheboygan County District Attorney Joe DeCecco prosecuting.⁷ Barbeau, who had already pleaded no contest, testified against Paape and told jurors the two had planned “to scare her and to get money and use force if needed.”⁵

Paape testified in his own defense. He said he had believed Barbeau was joking when he first suggested killing Olson, and that he went along with the attack out of fear: “If I don’t do what Antonio says he might try something on me.”⁸ His mother described him as “a follower, but not a leader” who “always tried to fit in with his peers.”⁹ Defense experts told jurors that at 13, Paape was “still impulsive and in the process of developing his personality.” Defense counsel also used the videotape of Barbeau’s earlier confession to police to point out inconsistencies in his courtroom testimony.¹⁰

The jury deliberated less than two hours on June 20, 2013, and returned a guilty verdict on party to first-degree intentional homicide.⁵

The Sentence

On August 13, 2013, Judge Van Akkeren sentenced Paape to life in prison with eligibility for release after 30 years. His earliest release date is December 2, 2043, when he will be 45.¹¹ Barbeau had been sentenced the day before to life with eligibility after 35 years. Van Akkeren explained the five-year difference by finding Paape “slightly less culpable” as a “follower,” while Barbeau had conceived the plan and started the attack.⁷

Shortly after sentencing, the Department of Corrections notified the court that under Wisconsin’s Truth in Sentencing laws, Paape would be subject to a petition for “extended supervision” rather than traditional parole. The label changed; the eligibility date did not.⁶

The Appeals

Paape fought his sentence for nearly a decade. In September 2015 he filed postconviction motions arguing that the statutes giving adult courts original jurisdiction over juveniles were unconstitutional and that his trial counsel had been ineffective for not challenging them. Judge Van Akkeren denied the motions without a hearing that November.¹²

On appeal, Paape argued that Wisconsin’s scheme created a “de facto life sentence” for juveniles: 30 years before he could even petition for release, followed by a hearing at which he would bear the burden of proving by clear and convincing evidence that he was no longer dangerous, all without a right to appointed counsel or state-funded experts. He said the framework violated the Eighth Amendment and Due Process Clause under Graham v. Florida, Miller v. Alabama, and Montgomery v. Louisiana, which together bar mandatory juvenile life-without-parole sentences and require a meaningful opportunity for release.⁶

The Wisconsin Court of Appeals rejected those arguments on June 28, 2017. It held that the extended-supervision petition process was not materially different from a parole hearing, that the statutory inquiry into future dangerousness inherently included maturity and rehabilitation, and that there was no constitutional right to appointed counsel or state-funded experts at that hearing.¹ The Wisconsin Supreme Court declined review on October 9, 2017.

Paape then went to federal court with a habeas corpus petition. On June 13, 2022, U.S. District Judge William M. Conley of the Western District of Wisconsin dismissed the petition with prejudice, finding Paape had not shown the state courts’ rulings were contrary to, or an unreasonable application of, clearly established Supreme Court precedent. Judge Conley also denied a certificate of appealability.¹

Where the Case Stands

Paape remains in Wisconsin custody serving his life sentence. His earliest date to petition for extended supervision is December 2, 2043.¹³ The available record shows no further legal proceedings after the 2022 federal dismissal.¹

1
GovInfo. Paape v. Carr, Federal Habeas Petition
2
MWC Radio. Criminal Complaint, Sheboygan County
3
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. An End of Innocence After Death
4
Star Tribune. Second Teen Sentenced to Life With Parole Possible for Killing His Friend’s Great-Grandmother
5
WISN. Jury Returns Verdict in Nathan Paape Case
6
Wisconsin Court of Appeals. Defendant-Appellant’s Brief, Case No. 2015AP002462-CR
7
Wisconsin Law Journal. Second Teen to Be Sentenced for Killing Elderly Woman
8
WISN. Closing Arguments Expected in the Nathan Paape Trial
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Fox 6 Now. Victim’s Daughter, Suspect’s Mother Testify on First Day of Paape Trial
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Fox 6 Now. Both Teens Accused of Murder Testify in Paape’s Trial Wednesday
11
Fox 6 Now. Nathan Paape Sentenced to Life in Prison in Death of Barbara Olson
12
Wisconsin Court of Appeals. State’s Response Brief, Case No. 2015AP002462-CR
13
WISN. Second Teen Sentenced in Killing of 78-Year-Old Woman