Menasha man sentenced to 25 years in prison for arson to house with body inside, murder-for-hire plot

WAUPACA – A 25-year-old Menasha man will spend 25 years in prison for burning down a house with a body inside, then plotting to kill a witness who shared information about the arson with investigators.

Steven Eggert was sentenced for charges in two cases Wednesday morning at Waupaca County Courthouse.

In the first case, Waupaca County Circuit Court Judge Vicki Clussman sentenced Eggert to 20 years in prison, followed by six years of extended supervision for a charge of arson of a building without the owner's consent. Other counts in that case received sentences to be served concurrently: five years in prison for mutilating a corpse, seven years for burglary while arming oneself with a dangerous weapon, and one year and six months for possession of a firearm while convicted of a felony.

For the second case, in which Eggert was convicted of solicitation of first-degree intentional homicide, Clussman sentenced Eggert to five years in prison, followed by three years of extended supervision, to be served consecutively to the prison sentence from the arson case.

In total, Eggert will be on extended supervision for nine years after his 25-year prison sentence.

Both victims and supporters of Eggert made statements at the sentencing hearing, according to court records.

The following information is from criminal complaints in both cases:

In the early morning hours of April 27, 2022, Eggert set fire to a house in rural Waupaca County after finding the homeowner dead.

Eggert knew the homeowner, Kevin Roeglin, because he hunted on his land. Eggert went over to the house, at N11557 County P in the town of Harrison, the night of April 26, 2022, to check trail cameras after Eggert was unable to get a hold of Roeglin.

Shortly before midnight, Eggert called a witness who he had been with earlier in the day. The witness said Eggert seemed "panicked," and said when he arrived at Roeglin's house, he saw a car parked outside the house and a light on in the dining room, and found Roeglin dead in the kitchen.

Eggert told the witness he did not know what happened, but saw a bruise on the deceased man's hand, a bruise on his forehead and blood by his mouth.

The witness told Eggert that he needed to report finding the man dead at the home. Eggert said he was concerned law enforcement would think he killed the man, and also was worried about an outstanding warrant, according to the complaint.

Eggert told the witness he would call another friend to report the death, the criminal complaint said. Eggert also told the witness he believed Roeglin had probably been dead about two days. The phone call ended when Eggert said he "needed to figure some s--t out."

Around 2:18 a.m. April 27, 2022, the Iola Rural Fire Department and Waupaca County Sheriff's Office responded to a 911 call from a passerby who saw the house fire.

Investigators found Roeglin's body in the burned wreckage of the house.

Around 8:48 a.m. that morning, the witness spoke with Eggert on the phone again. Eggert told the witness he "took care of it." On the phone, Eggert said he did not want police to know that he had been at the house, and said he hid his tracks. When the witness jokingly asked, "What did you do, burn down the house?" Eggert said, "Well, actually yeah," the witness told law enforcement.

Later that day, the witness and Eggert met up, and Eggert showed the witness an old revolver he had in his car, and said it was a gift from his grandfather. Eggert also mentioned taking multiple guns from Roeglin's house before starting the fire.

The witness, along with another witness who was present for some of the conversations with Eggert, reported what happened to the Waupaca County Sheriff's Office on April 28, 2022.

Investigators interviewed Eggert the following day. They found that he was previously convicted of a felony in 2017 for fleeing an officer while operating a vehicle and had an outstanding felony warrant for stealing a vehicle in 2020.

In the interview, Eggert admitted to using his phone to take a photo of the deceased man, to making phone calls to the witness and to taking five or six guns from the home. Eggert also said he smoked a joint and discarded it on papers by a table by a mattress in the living room, and stated the fire was a result of his actions.

A search warrant executed at Eggert's car and his father's home found that Eggert possessed 10 firearms in Waupaca County. Eggert was arrested and booked into Waupaca County Jail on April 30.

A month later, Eggert plotted to kill the witness who provided information to police about the arson.

On May 27, 2022, an inmate at Waupaca County Jail told investigators from the Wisconsin Department of Justice Division of Criminal Investigation that Eggert asked him if he would kill witnesses for him. The inmate said he "removed himself from the conversation immediately," but that another inmate had been talking with Eggert about a potential killing.

On May 31, 2022, investigators spoke with a second inmate and his attorney. The inmate said Eggert had "discussed a murder-for-hire scheme with him," the complaint says. As part of the plan, Eggert would make arrangements for someone to post the inmate's cash bond, and would pay the inmate a total of $60,000 and get him a truck valued at $10,000 if he killed a witness.

The inmate knew the target witness's first and last name, a physical description, had directions to his house, knew descriptions of the vehicles he drives, a bar he frequented and other identifying details.

When reporting the arson incident to police, the witness said that one time, during a conversation about Eggert stealing a truck, Eggert told the witness if he ever shared that information "as much as it would sadden him," Eggert would kill him. The witness told police those comments made him worry about his safety.

Investigators also spoke with a witness who said she had communicated with Eggert from Waupaca County Jail multiple times following his arrest. The witness said after she told Eggert she could not afford to post his bond, Eggert asked her to post the bond for the inmate who gave police information about the murder-for-hire scheme. She said he also asked her to provide money to pay a court debt owed by the inmate who first told investigators about Eggert's plan.

RELATED: Menasha man convicted of burning house and body, then seeking witness killed

Contact Kelli Arseneau at 920-213-3721 or karseneau@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter at @ArseneauKelli. 

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This article originally appeared on Appleton Post-Crescent: Menasha man gets 25 years' prison for arson, murder-for-hire plot