Ben Sebena's Condition Wouldn't Support Insanity Plea, Psychiatrist Concludes

Rawski's report by no means sinks Ben Sebena's case. The defense will present the findings of its own doctors at trial, presumably in front of a jury. Sebena has not requested a bench trial at this point.

Attorney Tries to Suppress Sebena's Statements

At Friday's hearing, Borowski also heard testimony on a motion filed by Sebena's attorney, Michael Steinle, to suppress statements he made to police prior to and after his arrest.

Borowski scheduled a hearing on 1 p.m. June 21 for his ruling on that motion.

Steinle questioned investigators assigned to the case and tried to paint a picture of a police interrogation rather than a mere interview on the day Jennifer Sebena was killed.

Sebena was asked to come to the Wauwatosa police station at about 6:30 a.m. – just about two hours after his wife's body was found – after he called the station to find out if she was all right, saying he had heard an officer was down.

Told that his wife had been in an accident, Sebena agreed to come to the station.

Once there, Friday's testimony revealed for the first time, Sebena was invited to an interview room in the Investigative Bureau, where he remained with Wauwatosa detectives from 7 a.m. until 3 p.m., when he was turned over to state Department of Justice agents.

Not long after the interview started, Detective David Hoppe testified, Sebena was told that his wife was dead. Sebena, in what appeared to be grief and fury, upended the conference table, which had been screwed to the floor.

Between 7 a.m. and 1:15 p.m., when he was arrested, Hoppe testified, Sebena would have been free to go any time.

When Did Sebena Become a Suspect?

Steinle sought to portray a scenario in which Sebena must have felt he was being questioned as a suspect – without having been read his rights or given access to a lawyer.

His jacket was taken from him, Steinle said, and later his cell phone. He was not allowed to speak to his family at his request. When he needed to go to the bathroom or to smoke a cigarette he was under constant escort from one or more police officers.

Hoppe said he could not say why another detective sergeant asked Sebena for his jacket, and did not know whether it was even a demand. As for the phone, he said, it was just among other items picked up and removed after Sebena turned over the table. It would have been returned if Sebena had asked for it, Hoppe said.

As for having escorts to visit the men's room and to smoke, Hoppe said, that is standard procedure for any and all visitors to the police station.

It would also be standard, Hoppe said, not to allow a person being interviewed to talk to others, even family members in a time of grief.

"A person could say something that would influence the other's thinking," Hoppe said. "We did not want to damage the integrity of the investigation."

The critical time Steinle zeroed in on was about 20 minutes in which he felt the record showed Sebena was being treated by police as a criminal suspect without being informed of his rights.

At about 12:55, Hoppe said, he came to believe that Sebena was becoming uncomfortable and wanted to end the interview, and would likely ask to leave soon – although, Hoppe assured the court, he hadn't asked yet.

Hoppe brought his feelings to the attention of his supervisor, Detective Sergeant Dave Moldenhauer, and asked whether at that point he should still allow Sebena to leave.

Sebena had already signed consent forms for searches of his phone, car and house, but no evidence had been returned.

Moldenhauer decided it would be best to check with the District Attorney's Office. Assistant D.A. Mark Williams, apprised of the status of the case, and the lack of any evidence or statements of culpability by Sebena, told Moldenhauer that if Sebena wished to leave the police department had to let him.

At the time, Hoppe testified, Sebena was growing more fatigued and uneasy, wanting to see his family and saying that the interview was becoming repetitive and going nowhere. But despite that, he still did not say he wanted to leave.

Just 15 minutes after Williams told them Sebena was free to go at his will, the detectives got a call from the field. Pistol cartridges of a rare type matching a shell casing found at the scene of the crime had been found in the Sebena home.

On that evidence, Sebena was placed under arrest.

Actions of Police Called Into Question

Steinle seemed to be suggesting that Wauwatosa detectives were doing everything they could to keep Sebena in hand without formally taking him into custody – and he did get Judge Borowski's attention.

"You don't normally call the District Attorney's Office during an interview, do you?" he asked Hoppe.

"No, I don't do that," Hoppe said.

After Sebena's arrest, Hoppe said, the Wauwatosa police were instructed to ask no more questions of him and to turn the case over to the state Division of Criminal Investigations.

Special agents from the DCI questioned Sebena the rest of the day on Christmas Eve and again on Christmas Day. On Dec. 26, they invited in Milwaukee Police Lt. Christopher Blacszak – who had been a homicide investigator for eight years, but perhaps more importantly was a 20-year veteran of the armed forces and a combat veteran of the War in Afghanistan.

Sebena, a former Marine who fought in both Afghanistan and Iraq, and was seriously wounded in Iraq, has told investigators he suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of his multiple tours of combat duty and his wounding.

Blacszak said he and Sebena had a long talk about their military service, veteran to veteran, before Blaczak turned the discussion to why Sebena was in custody. He told Sebena that investigators had concluded that he had killed his wife.

"For another 21 minutes he continued to deny it," Blaczak said. "Then he said, 'OK, confession time' – and started to tell the details.

"He was calm, collected, extremely cooperative. It was much like this conversation we're having right here."