Keith Kutska, last of 'Monfils Six' remaining in prison, is granted parole
GREEN BAY – The last of six men remaining in prison for the 1992 death of a Green Bay paper mill worker has been granted parole, the Wisconsin Department of Corrections confirmed Thursday.
Keith Kutska, 72, has served 27 years of a life sentence for the murder of Tom Monfils. He will be eligible for release on extended supervision Aug. 29, but his actual release date could be anytime within 30 days of that date, according to a statement from the DOC.
The DOC statement says Kutska "has shown exceptional conduct, with only one minor conduct report over his entire incarceration."
Multiple factors were considered in granting parole, including his conduct in prison and the level of risk he poses to the community upon release. The DOC Parole Commission also sought input from retired Outagamie County Circuit Court Judge James Bayorgeon, who presided over the 1995 trial and sentenced Kutska. Bayorgeon supported Kutska's release, according to the DOC.
At a joint trial in 1995, Kutska and five other men were convicted of killing Monfils and throwing his body into a pulp vat at the James River Corp. mill on Day Street on Nov. 21, 1992.
Monfils went missing from work that day after his coworkers confronted him about calling police on Kutska. Nearly two weeks prior, Monfils called the Green Bay Police Department to anonymously report that Kutska was stealing a piece of scrap electrical wire from the mill. Kutska was then suspended from work for a week without pay, during which time Monfils repeatedly called the police department, begging them to not release audio recordings of the phone call. Through miscommunication within the police department, Kutska acquired the tape with Monfils' voice on it. Kutska then confronted Monfils at work on Nov. 21, 1992, and played the recording for other mill workers, stirring up anger.
RELATED: Documentary about 30-year-old Tom Monfils case makes world premiere Friday in Green Bay
Monfils went missing that morning. His body was found at the bottom of a pulp vat inside the mill the following evening. After a three-year investigation, the Brown County District Attorney's Office charged six mill workers of beating up Monfils, tying a weight around his neck and throwing him into a vat full of paper mill sludge.
Kutska and the five other men convicted of killing Monfils have maintained their innocence for over 30 years.
One of the men convicted, Mike Piaskowksi, was exonerated in 2001, after a federal judge ruled that there had been insufficient evidence to convict Piaskowski.
The other four were released on parole in 2017 through 2019. Dale Basten was the first to be released from prison, in September 2017, due to failing health. He died the following June, at age 77. The other three men — Michael Hirn, Michael Johnson and Rey Moore — were released on parole in June 2018, June 2019 and July 2019, respectively.
Each of the men were repeatedly denied parole for years. Hirn, Moore and Johnson were first eligible for parole in April 2010. Johnson was first eligible for parole in April 2011; Kutska in 2015.
In the three decades since Monfils' death, there have been differing opinions in the community about the guilt of the "Monfils Six," as they became known. Two books were written about the men's innocence, and in April, a documentary highlighting divided opinions about the case premiered in Green Bay.
Contact Kelli Arseneau at (920) 213-3721 or karseneau@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter at @ArseneauKelli.
This article originally appeared on Appleton Post-Crescent: Keith Kutska, convicted in Green Bay paper mill death, granted parole
