Since 2019, Gov. Tony Evers’ Parole Commission has released hundreds of convicted criminals, freeing them early on parole mostly into Wisconsin communities, including more than 300 murderers and attempted murderers, and more than 47 child rapists.

Joseph Michalkiewicz was one of them. His release was discretionary.

38th in the series.

George Moore died a horrible death; he was murdered in a hatchet or ax attack.

Joseph Michalkiewicz was convicted in the murder of George Moore, a 40-year-old Clark gas station clerk in Racine. The killer “hacked” the victim “to death with a hatchet,” an old newspaper article says.

Michalkiewicz falsely blamed fictional black men for the crime, court records say.

George Moore “was savagely murdered in the south side gas station” according to Racine Journal Times.

Michalkiewicz wrote us after this story ran, and he asked for this quote to be included:

“Authorities want the public to believe that my passing of a polygraph test less than 2 days after the tragedy was the reason they shifted focus from me as a suspect, when in reality, the fact was that there were 13 other witnesses, whom all corroborated my version of events to one extent or another. Of these thirteen witnesses, when they decided to charge me 20 years later, 9 names of the previously known witnesses, were misplaced due to the neglect of the Racine County Sheriffs Dept., making their statements inadmissable as the truth of the matters asserted within each statement with the lame excuse that ‘Due to the passing of time, these names were lost.’ Even though the Wisconsin Supreme court ruled that one of the statements were indeed Apparent Exculpatory Evidence, my conviction was upheld. Of the remaining 4 witnesses, 3 were deceased at the time of trial, leaving 1 person to testify that I was NOT one of the 3 people of color she witnessed threatening the victim’s life hours before his death being discovered.” He denied any racist actions.

Evers’ Parole Commission Freed Joseph Michalkiewicz Early

Date paroled: 2/8/2022 [You can check his parole date yourself here by putting his name into the database and clicking movement]

Current Residence: Racine, WI

Age: 62

Convicted: First-degree intentional homicide

Sentence: Life Sentence. His release was discretionary. Killers serving life sentences do not quality for mandatory release.

The Victim: George L. Moore, a 40-year-old Racine gas station clerk

What the Killer Did:

The murder was a cold case for years; it was solved in 2001 due to new blood tests. The motive was robbery.

A screwdriver was embedded in the victim’s clothes, and Moore suffered severe injury to the back of his head. The Kenosha News described the murder as a “beating death.”

“An autopsy revealed numerous bruises, massive cuts and punctures on Moore’s head, face, chest, stomach and back – wounds apparently inflicted with an ax, screwdriver, and pipe wrench.”