Ex-Wisconsin Judge Convicted of Murdering Lawyer

A former county judge was convicted of fatally stabbing the law partner of a man who defeated the judge for reelection last April, a jury said Saturday.

Former Lafayette County Circuit Judge Daniel McDonald was accused of bludgeoning James Klein, 31, with a metal bar and then stabbing him on June 22 in his law offices in Darlington, Wis.

McDonald, 43, who served on the bench for 12 years, sat and stared as the verdict was read.

The jury reached its verdict Friday night after about four hours of deliberation. But Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Ralph Fine had said that the verdict would be sealed until Saturday if the decision was reached after 6:30 p.m.

The jury now must rule on whether McDonald was sane at the time of the attack.

Prosecutors contended that McDonald went to the law offices of attorney William Johnston, who defeated McDonald in an April election, with the intention of slaying Johnston, 44, but found Klein there.

“The defendant wanted Bill Johnston dead, and Jim Klein got in the way,” Assistant Atty. Gen. Michael Zaleski said in closing arguments.

McDonald, who testified on his own behalf, said that he stabbed Klein in self-defense, but witnesses who watched the incident through a glass door testified that McDonald was the aggressor.

Fine instructed members of the jury that they could not consider a verdict of not guilty by reason of self-defense.

On Tuesday, jurors will begin hearing testimony on whether McDonald was sane at the time of the killing.