GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — A man identified as “a person of interest” in a double murder on the city’s east side faces charges for allegedly cutting off his electronic monitoring bracelet. Richard Sotka has not been charged with the murders of the women found in a home on Elkay Lane — though GPS records tie him to the scene, according to the criminal complaint.
An arrest warrant was issued for Sotka, 48, based on the criminal complaint filed Monday for criminal damage to property, and three counts of bail jumping.
According to the criminal complaint, police investigating the murders of two women on Elkay Lane discovered Sotka had a restraining order against him, and was required to wear a monitoring bracelet.
“From the information myself and other detectives obtained, Sotka was on an electronic monitoring device and he left 1657 Elkay Lane in the City of Green Bay, Brown County, Wisconsin at 2:35 AM and traveled through town and the monitoring bracelet was disconnected at 2:54 AM on January 29, 2023 near US 41/CT Hwy S,” the complaint states.
Officers accessed the GPS tracking records, and “learned that the monitoring device in which Sotka was wearing as part of his bond conditions in Oconto County had been cut off and last pinged on the exit from US-41 southbound and Freedom Road off-ramp in the City of De Pere,” the complaint states.
Police were able to find and retrieve the bracelet, the complaint states.
Based on a warrant, Arkansas authorities arrested Sotka, and Green Bay police detectives traveled to meet him.
Mississippi County, Arkansas, jail records show Sotka was booked into the jail Sunday afternoon.
“In his interview, Richard Sotka admitted to investigators he recalled “chucking” or “throwing” the bracelet out the window of the truck but did not recall where,” the complaint states.
The criminal complaint does not include specific details about the double murders, or more details of the officers’ conversation with Sotka.
As for the bail jumping charges, Sotka currently has three pending criminal cases in Oconto County. One of them includes charges of stalking and violating a restraining order. An August trial is set in that case.
Court records for the Oconto County cases list Sotka’s address as 1657 Elkay Lane, which is the scene of the murder. Green Bay Police said Monday Sotka had stayed there at some point. The charges filed Monday in Brown County list Sotka’s address in Fond du Lac.
