Courts
Two suspects in triple murder probably will have separate trials in La Crosse
The chances are slim that two suspects in a triple homicide will be tried together in La Crosse County.
The DA’s office says it will not seek a joint trial for Nya Thao and co-defendant Khamthaneth Rattanasack in the July 2021 shooting deaths of three men at a quarry near West Salem. Thao is already scheduled to go on trial next June.
At a hearing on Thursday, Rattanasack’s attorney Bernardo Cueto asked for more time to line up witnesses and prepare for a possible trial. Judge Elliott Levine said he’ll have another hearing for Rattanasack in 60 to 90 days.
Three weeks have been set aside for the Thao trial, but the judge says that trial might be a bit shorter if Rattanasack is tried separately.
The sheriff’s office says the three men killed at the quarry allegedly were shot because one of them owed $600 to Rattanasack, who had recently gotten out of prison.