Sentencing date set for Nya Thao following guilty verdict

LA CROSSE (WKBT) -- A jury has convicted a man in the shootings of three men whose bodies were found outside a quarry.

37-seven-year-old Nya Thao was found guilty Tuesday of three counts of intentional first-degree homicide and one count of felon in possession of a firearm.

Thao and another man were charged in the July 2021 slayings of Peng Lor and Nemo Yang, both 24, and 24-year-old Trevor Maloney.

Prosecutors said the other man thought at least one of the three victims had stolen $600 from him.

La Crosse County Sheriff John Siegel said Tuesday’s verdict “closes the door on a horrific crime."

Thao will appear in court on Oct. 14 for a sentencing hearing.

LA CROSSE (WKBT) -- A verdict has been reached in the retrial of a man accused of triple homicide.

On Tuesday, the jury found 37-year-old Nya Thao guilty on three counts of first-degree intentional homicide as party to a crime and possession of a firearm as a convicted felon.

Following the verdict, Judge Elliot Levine revoked Thao's bond pending sentencing.

Judge Levine thanked and dismissed the jury before setting a sentencing hearing to be held in 30 to 60 days.

La Crosse County Sheriff John Siegel released a statement following the verdict:

"Today’s (Tuesday’s) verdict closes the door on a horrific crime not only perpetrated on 3 individuals, but our entire community. Many officers and agencies worked countless hours on this investigation. Thank you to our Sheriff’s Office personnel, our local police departments, District Attorney’s Office and our state and federal partners that assisted in this case.   We hope the victim’s families can continue to heal from this senseless tragedy."

LA CROSSE (WKBT) -- The fate of a man accused in a triple homicide is now in the hands of a jury.

37-year-old Nya Thao is on trial for the murders of three men at La Crosse County's Romskog quarry in July of 2021.

He faces three charges of first-degree intentional homicide as party to a crime and possession of a firearm as a convicted felon.

Monday morning attorneys made their closing statements, trying to convince the jury of what role Thao played in the homicides.

He's accused of committing the murders with 47-year-old Khamthaneth Rattanasack, who attorneys refer to by his street name "Black."

During closing statements, the prosecution argued that Thao and Rattanasack were working as a team when the three men were killed.

"They worked together and in concert, to find and capture their prey, and take them out in the middle of nowhere in the dead of night to execute them and leave them for dead," said Adrienne Blais, the Assistant Attorney General for Wisconsin's Department of Justice.

The prosecution also emphasized that Thao didn't necessarily need to pull the trigger to be found guilty as party of a crime.

They say that all that matters is that Thao knew there was a plan to kill the men.

During his closing statement, Thao's attorney said all the blame was on Rattanasack and that Thao didn't know Rattanasack — aka "Black" — planned to shoot the men.

"Where does all the evidence point? It all points to Black," Defense Attorney Aaron Nelson argued. "There's no other reasonable explanation."

Allegedly, Rattansack pistol whipped one of the victims before the shootings happened.

Nelson used that to argue that Rattanasack was not afraid of using violence and that he had possession of the gun shortly before the murders.

Rattanasack pleaded guilty to one count of first-degree intentional homicide as party to a crime earlier this year.

The other charges were dropped as part of the plea deal.

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