Sherman woman gets prison in murder-for-hire case
NEILLSVILLE — A 47-year-old Clark County woman was sentenced to prison Monday for plotting to kill the fathers of her grandchildren.
Shari A. Klimmer, of the town of Sherman, will serve seven years in a state correctional institution and nine years on probation after pleading guilty in May to one count of conspiracy to commit first-degree intentional homicide.
“But for the fact that this was a criminal investigation, someone would have died,” Wood County Judge Nicholas Brazeau Jr. said at a hearing on Monday. Brazeau, who is a substitute judge in the case, was referring to the role of an informant who notified authorities of the murder plot.
As part of the plea, a second count of conspiracy to commit first-degree intentional homicide was dismissed, but Brazeau was allowed to consider it in crafting the sentence, which also prohibits Klimmer from contacting victims, their family members and witnesses.
The criminal complaint, filed in November, alleged that Klimmer offered an informant $10,000 to kill the fathers of her daughter’s two children. After the informant contacted authorities, police arranged a meeting with Klimmer, who offered a ring, necklace and watch as collateral for the job to move forward.
The informant told Clark County sheriff’s deputies in October that Klimmer’s daughter, Porscha A. Rizzi, had approached the informant and offered to pay him $600 to kill the father of one of her children.
Rizzi, 22, also of Sherman, pleaded guilty July 27 to conspiracy to commit first-degree intentional homicide. She’s scheduled to be sentenced Sept. 22.
Clark County District Attorney Lyndsey Brunette had recommended that Klimmer’s sentence include 15 to 18 years of prison followed by seven to 10 years of probation. Klimmer’s defense attorney, public defender Christine Kuczynski, recommended a sentence of 15 to 17 years of probation with the possibility of confinement for one or two years.
Brazeau, who called Klimmer’s conduct “very frightening,” said a sentence of virtually all probation would be “totally inappropriate.”
About 20 people attended Monday’s sentencing hearing, including a victim and members of Klimmer’s family. At least six people wrote letters in support of her.
Wearing an orange jail jumpsuit, Klimmer could be heard crying and breathing heavily throughout the hearing. She spoke softly while reading a statement to the court in which she expressed remorse.
“If I could go back and change things, I would,” she said, adding, “I’m not a violent person.”
Klimmer will receive credit for 294 days already served in jail; she could file an appeal.
—Jonathan Anderson can be reached at janderson9@gannett.com or 715-898-7010. Find him on Twitter as @jonathanderson.
News-Herald Media reporter Karen Madden contributed to this report.