Saturday, April 26, 2025
spot_imgspot_img
Saturday, April 26, 2025

Milwaukee Press Club 'Excellence in Wisconsin Journalism' 2020 & 2021 Award Winners

Murdered Pregnant Teen’s Brother Blasts Evers, Barnes Over Burlington Killer’s Parole | Tony Evers’ Killers & Rapists #5

spot_img

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.



5th in the series.


“If we’re not safe, nobody’s safe,” an outraged Raymond Ziebell, of Burlington, told Wisconsin Right Now.

Ziebell’s pregnant teenage sister, Cathy Ziebell, 16, was shot to death and tossed off a bridge in 1975 in Kenosha County by Mark Ketterhagen.

Ziebell learned that his sister’s killer was paroled – for a second time – in 2019 from a WRN reporter.

He blasted Tony Evers and Mandela Barnes during the interview. “I think they’re crooked,” he said, citing Evers’ and Barnes’ comments on the Jacob Blake case, which he believes showed a soft-on-crime philosophy that he believes is playing out with paroles as well.

“I think it’s terrible,” Ziebell said of Ketterhagen’s parole. “Society is breaking down.”

Mark ketterhagen
Kenosha news headline

“If people like Evers keep letting these people out, there will be more murders and more suffering, and then none of us are safe,” said Ziebell.

“Where was justice?” he asked.

Ziebell, a retired teacher who identified his sister’s body, noted: “I’m 80. We have lived a long life. But young people are not going to have that. Look at the crime on the streets of Milwaukee; they (Evers and Barnes) are doing very little about that.” He believes the paroles were “covered up.”

Cathy Ziebell was 16 and pregnant, when her ex-boyfriend, Mark Ketterhagen, 22, took the Kenosha County, Wisconsin, teen for a drive in the country. He wanted her to have an abortion, but her mother wouldn’t support it. So he killed Cathy and the unborn child, news articles from the time say.

Cathy ziebell
Cathy ziebell

Ziebell’s murder was a major news story in Kenosha and Racine Counties when it happened.

Ketterhagen shot her four times and then tossed her body into the Fox River. A major search resulted. Police found a “nine-foot bloodstain trailing off the bridge” just south of the Racine County line.

In 1982, Ziebell’s mom, Ruth, gathered 1,600 signatures to prevent Ketterhagen’s early release from prison. “I thought when a person was convicted and sentenced to life that what they got was life,” the mother said then, according to the Racine Journal-Times. “I wish my daughter had more years added to her life.”

Cathy ziebell
Kenosha news

It worked then, but, Ruth Ziebell has long since passed away, and, in 2019, Gov. Tony Evers took office and appointed John Tate, a man who made his soft-on-criminals views well-known, to run the Parole Commission. Tate approved the paroles. Evers reappointed him in 2021, AFTER Ketterhagen’s parole, saying he was “pleased” to do so.


Evers’ Parole Commission Freed Mark Ketterhagen

Mark ketterhagen
Mark ketterhagen

Date paroled: 10/15/2019 [You can look up his parole date yourself here by putting his name in the Corrections database and clicking on “movement”]

The released killer now lives: West Allis, Wisconsin

Age: 69

Convicted: First-degree intentional homicide, 1975 crime

Sentence: Life. He did not qualify for mandatory release because he received a life sentence for the homicide. Thus, the parole was discretionary.

Other factors: Claimed severe intoxication.

Mark ketterhagen Mark ketterhagen Mark ketterhagen


The Victim: Cathy Ziebell, age 16, who was pregnant

Cathy ziebell
Cathy ziebell

What The Killer Did:

Mark Ketterhagen was convicted in 1975 of the first-degree intentional homicide of 16-year-old Cathy Ziebell of Burlington.

According to court records, the two started dating in 1974. Two months after they broke up, in March 1975, Ziebell told Ketterhagen that she was pregnant with his baby.

Her mother was against her getting an abortion or marrying Ketterhagen and floated the idea of adoption. Mark Ketterhagen would still have to pay the teen’s medical bills.

Two days later, Ketterhagen drank extensively and then picked Ziebell up at her house.

“He drove out to the country, stopped the car on a bridge over the Fox River and got out. Ketterhagen testified that Ziebell then stepped out of the car and told him ‘she was going to stick it to him.’ Angered, Mark Ketterhagen grabbed a .357 Magnum pistol from the front seat of his car and shot Ziebell four times from a distance of seven or eight feet. Ketterhagen then pushed Ziebell’s body off the bridge and into the Fox River,” the court records say.

He was 22 at the time.

According to Raymond Ziebell, 80, Ketterhagen was paroled once before on the murder charge but screwed up on parole and was sent back to prison.

Corrections records do list two paroles for him – one in 1990 and one in 2019 – and only one charge that landed him in prison, the homicide.

He was sent back to prison in 2002. That year, he was charged with causing injury while intoxicated, a misdemeanor for which he received a short jail sentence, court records show.

At first, Raymond, Cathy’s sister and her mother went to parole hearings to keep Ketterhagen in prison, but over time, people passed away.

“The family fell apart after that,” he said. “Of six kids, only two of us are left. It’s sad.”

He said Ketterhagen would ride by their mother’s house and “stick up his middle finger” while out.

“It just never ends,” said Ziebell, who noted that his sister’s unborn baby “would now be 47 years old” if she had lived.

Raymond said he had no idea that Ketterhagen was paroled again and is living in West Allis. “We were never informed even of the first parole,” he said. “If my mom was alive, it would have killed her.” She died in 1990 of cancer.

“My sister, her body was dumped in the Fox River. Her body floated down river about a mile,” he said. “I was the one who identified her body. You know, I felt badly for my mother most of all.”

According to Ziebell, Cathy was the youngest of six kids. He was already 16 years old when she was born. She used to babysit his kids. “We didn’t want the girls to know she was shot,” he said.

He noted, “I believe in God’s justice. The Bible says God will avenge you. It’s not my job.”

 

 

monica isham, hannah dugan

Wisconsin Judge Monica Isham Threatens Not to Hold Court Over Hannah Dugan Arrest

Wisconsin Circuit Judge Monica Isham is threatening to refuse to hold court and even raise bail on defendants because of the arrest of Milwaukee...
hannah dugan

Eduardo Flores Ruiz: Charges Against Illegal Immigrant Before Judge Hannah Dugan

Eduardo Flores Ruiz was identified by FBI Director Kash Patel as the illegal immigrant who authorities say Milwaukee County Judge Hannah Dugan helped evade...
hannah dugan

Judge Hannah Dugan Arrested in Milwaukee by FBI on Obstruction Charge

Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah Dugan was arrested this morning by the FBI on an obstruction charge, according to FBI Director Kash Patel. Read the...
cavalier johnson

Mayor Cavalier Johnson Calls Froedtert’s Treatment of Milwaukee Cop ‘Very Clearly Inappropriate’

Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson is calling Froedtert Hospital's treatment of Milwaukee police officers "very clearly inappropriate." We reached out last Friday to Johnson through his...
hannah dugan

Milwaukee Judge Hannah Dugan Accused of Helping Illegal Immigrant ‘Evade ICE’: Report

Milwaukee County Judge Hannah Dugan was arrested on an obstruction charge on April 25, and the FBI director is accusing her of helping an...
tony evers

The Wisconsin Supreme Court Just Allowed Tony Evers to Raise Taxes for 400 years

In case you missed it, the liberal justices on the Wisconsin Supreme Court just allowed Tony Evers to raise taxes for the next 400...
mpd

Milwaukee Police Association Calls for Obstruction Charges Against Hospital Staff

The Milwaukee Police Association is calling for "obstruction charges for hospital staff" who demand that officers disarm and/or interfere with police investigations. "Recent news stories...
mpd

Sick Milwaukee Police Officer Was Turned Away by TWO Froedtert Clinics

A sick Milwaukee police officer was turned away by TWO Froedtert "FastCare" clinics because he had a department-issued firearm while in uniform, the memo...

Froedtert Hospital Apologizes For Denying Treatment to Milwaukee Police Officer

The president of Froedtert Hospital’s south region apologized Wednesday to a Milwaukee police officer and the law enforcement community, admitting that the officer was...

Froedtert Denied Sick Milwaukee Cop Treatment Because He Had a Gun: MPD

"I'm appalled" - Milwaukee Police Association President Alex Ayala. A Milwaukee hospital's clinic denied a sick on-duty police officer medical treatment because the officer had...

My Visit to Hillsdale College

I had a unique opportunity to visit Hillsdale College in lower central nowhere, ah hum, Michigan, a week ago.  They held a conference on...
Trump Expects Indictment White House Cocaine president trump covid-19

Trump Expands Gulf of America Oil & Natural Gas Production

Reversing Biden administration policies that halted offshore leasing, prompting lawsuits and restricting oil and natural gas development, the Trump administration is expanding offshore capabilities.

Interior Secretary Doug Burgum directed the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management to hold the administration’s first offshore lease sales in the Gulf of America, with the first proposed notice of sale slated for June.

“By continuing to expand offshore capabilities, the United States ensures affordable energy for consumers, strengthens domestic industry and reinforces its role as an energy superpower,” the Interior Department says. “Opening the Outer Continental Shelf is central to this strategy as it unleashes domestic energy potential that had been blocked under the previous administration,” and is expected to generate tens of thousands of high-paying jobs throughout the industry.

The BOEM also released a new analysis stating that a significant increase of estimated oil and natural gas reserves exists in the Gulf of America Outer Continental Shelf. BOEM’s updated assessment evaluated more than 140 oil and natural gas fields, identifying 18 new discoveries, and analyzed more than 37,000 reservoirs across 1,336 fields in the Gulf.

It says there’s an “additional 1.3 billion barrels of oil equivalent since 2021, bringing the total reserve estimate to 7.04 billion barrels of oil equivalent. This includes 5.77 billion barrels of oil and 7.15 trillion cubic feet of natural gas – a 22.6% increase in remaining recoverable reserves.”

“This new data confirms what we’ve known all along – America is sitting on a treasure trove of energy, and under President Trump’s leadership, we’re unlocking it,” Burgum said. “The Gulf of America is a powerhouse, and by streamlining permitting and expanding access, we’re not just powering our economy – we’re strengthening our national security and putting thousands of Americans back to work.”

The comprehensive review added 4.39 billion barrels of oil equivalent in original reserves, BOEM found. “After subtracting production of 3.09 billion barrels of oil equivalent since 2020–2021, the net increase reflects continued opportunity and momentum in offshore development,” it says.

“The Gulf of America is delivering 14% of the nation’s oil,” BOEM Gulf of America Regional Director Dr. James Kendall said. “These updated estimates reaffirm the Gulf’s vital role in ensuring a reliable, affordable domestic energy supply.”

The BOEM oversees nearly 3.2 billion acres of the Outer Continental Shelf, with roughly 160 million acres located in the Gulf.

“Energy dominance is a pillar of U.S. economic strength and global leadership,” the Interior Department argues. “By expanding offshore capabilities, the United States ensures affordable energy for consumers, creates high-paying jobs, and reduces dependence on foreign adversaries. … Expanded leasing is projected to create tens of thousands of jobs across exploration, production, logistics and supply chains — revitalizing coastal economies and fueling American innovation.”

Shell Offshore Inc., a subsidiary of Shell plc, also announced it is beginning production at Dover, a second subsea tieback connecting new wells to existing infrastructure of its Appomattox production hub in the Gulf of America. Dover’s estimated peak production is 20,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day, it says.

Shell is the leading deep-water operator in the Gulf of America; Dover was discovered under the first Trump administration in 2018.

It’s located in Mississippi Canyon, roughly 170 miles offshore southeast of New Orleans.

Shell estimates that Dover will “contain 44.5 million barrels of oil equivalent recoverable resources, adding stable, secure energy resources.”

Outer Continental Shelf oil and gas activities have generated billions of dollars in revenue from lease sales, rental fees and royalties to the federal government and states, helping to fund infrastructure, education and public services and wildlife conservation. They also help strengthen U.S. energy independence, national security and global stability, by reducing reliance on foreign producers, the Trump administration argues.

Offshore production in the Gulf of America accounts for the third greatest volume in the country, of nearly 1.8 million barrels of oil per day, according to Energy Information Agency data from January. The greatest volume is produced in the Permian Basin in west Texas, which leads the U.S. in oil and natural gas production, The Center Square reported.

josh kaul

Wisconsin Judge Slams Josh Kaul, Says He ‘Abused’ Justice System & Made ‘False Representations’

A Wisconsin judge slammed Attorney General Josh Kaul in a blistering order on Friday, accusing Kaul of abusing Wisconsin's justice system and of making...

Why Brad Schimel Lost the Wisconsin Supreme Court Race

There's one big reason that Brad Schimel lost on Tuesday. The blame game will erupt in earnest today, but the Supreme Court election was probably...
uw-eau claire

UW-Eau Claire College Republicans Say Professor Flipped Their Table With Brad Schimel Lit

"I was very scared to continue tabling. I knew we had to because backing down would be worse" - UW-Eau Claire College Republicans Chair...
bridget schoenborn

Evers’ Appointees Bridget Schoenborn, Fred Strampe on Waukesha Ballot Today

Two appointees of Democratic Gov. Tony Evers are on the ballot today (April 1, 2025) seeking Waukesha County judgeships. They are Bridget Schoenborn and...
susan crawford

Wisconsin Judge Susan Crawford Was Doyle’s Top Lawyer When He Implemented Mass Early Release of Criminals

Liberal Judge Susan Crawford was Democrat Gov. Jim Doyle's top lawyer when Doyle implemented the mass release of criminals from state prisons. In response to...
elon musk

Elon Musk in Green Bay: Wisconsin Supreme Court Race Could Determine Control of U.S. House

Tesla CEO Elon Musk took a stage in Green Bay, Wisconsin, Sunday, and warned Wisconsin voters that he believes the control of the U.S....

WATCH: Elon Musk Town Hall Rally in Green Bay [FULL Video]

Tesla CEO and free speech advocate Elon Musk is appearing at a Town Hall in Green Bay, Wisconsin tonight, with the state Supreme Court...
elon musk

Elon Musk Accuses Wisconsin AG Josh Kaul of Trying to Restrain His Free Speech

A lawyer for Tesla CEO and free speech advocate Elon Musk is accusing Wisconsin's partisan liberal Attorney General Josh Kaul of trying to curtail...