The Wisconsin Supreme Court is expected to issue a ruling in coming weeks that will determine whether necrophilia is a crime that falls under the state’s sexual assault statute. The debate stems from a Sept. 2006 criminal case, involving three young men who tried to dig up a woman's grave to have sex with her corpse.
On Aug. 27, 2006, 20-year-old Laura Tennessen was riding on the back of a 2001 Honda motorcycle driven by Thomas C. Sweet, also 20. The couple had allegedly been drinking and at about 3:00 a.m., Thomas lost control of the motorcycle, and they were both thrown onto the roadway. Thomas sustained minor injuries, but Laura was pronounced dead upon arrival at Grant Regional Health Center in Lancaster, Wisconsin.
When Laura's obituary, along with a flattering photograph, was published in local papers, brothers Nicholas and Alexander Grunke, both 20, concocted a bizarre scheme to dig up her body so Nicholas could have sex with her corpse. The brothers somehow convinced their friend, Dustin Radke, also 20, to help them put their plan in motion.
On the night of Sept. 2, 2006, a concerned citizen called the Grant County Sheriff's Department and reported a suspicious vehicle that was parked by the St. Charles Cemetery. When Officer Brent McDonald arrived on the scene, he observed Alexander Grunke walking towards the vehicle. According to the criminal complaint, Grunke was sweating profusely and appeared to be nervous.
Alexander told McDonald why he and his companions had been digging up Laura's body. As Alexander finished his unbelievable explanation, a second patrol car arrived on the scene and together the two units drove over to Laura's plot. They did not find anyone present but they did observe that her grave had been partially dug up, leaving the top of her vault exposed.
Both Nicholas and Dustin had fled on foot when they saw the lights from the police car sweeping across the cemetery, but they were later picked up walking on a nearby highway.
