MARINETTE, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – Competency concerns have again been raised for Raymand Vannieuwenhoven, the man convicted last year for the 1976 murders of David Schuldes and Ellen Matheys.
Vannieuwenhoven, 85, is serving back-to-back life prison terms for the murders at McClintock County Park. He is currently housed at the Oshkosh Correctional Institution, state records show.
The murders of Schuldes and Matheys were unsolved for more than four decades. In 2019, a DNA sample from evidence at the crime scene was determined to be from a particular family. After samples tested from Vannieuwenhoven’s brothers weren’t a match, a sample from him — obtained from a licked envelope for a survey on police performance filled out by Raymand — was a match, according to the complaint.
The defense plans to appeal, likely focusing on what his trial attorneys termed the ‘deception’ used to get the DNA sample. While the notice of appeal has been filed, the actual briefs and arguments have not been submitted to the appeals court.
Before that happens, however, his attorneys have again raised the issue of competency. That is, Vannieuwenhoven’s ability to understand the proceedings and assist in his own defense, or, in the case, appeal.
“In reviewing the file and conducting an independent investigation, counsel has a good faith basis to doubt the defendant’s ability to assist counsel in postconviction matters,” wrote attorney Ava Babock.
Marinette County Judge James Morrison signed an order Monday granting the psychiatric evaluation. A date for the court to review the results has not been set.
It’s not the first time Vanneiuwenhoven’s mental state has been raised, as the issue was raised at least twice in the years after charges were filed and before the trial was held. At one point, he was deemed not competent to proceed, but that was later reversed.
