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Samuel Jandt, Parrish’s court-appointed attorney, did not wish to address his client’s bail or conditions of release and requested that an evidentiary hearing take place in the next 60 days.
Before granting the request, Judge Jeff Thompson explained he has chosen not to hear a related case against Jack Willis Nissalke, 42, who has been indicted by a grand jury on four counts of first-degree murder in relation to the Senenfelder killing, because he has a potential conflict of interest. Thompson said his previous encounters with Nissalke and Nissalke’s father as an Assistant Winona County Attorney in the 1990s presented a conflict. He also told Jandt and Parrish that he may have been involved in the Senenfelder investigation then but that he doesn’t remember the case or the nature of his involvement.
Jandt said he had no immediate problems with Thompson hearing his client’s case and simply asked for the omnibus hearing, which was set for 9 a.m. Sept. 17. The contested hearing is scheduled to last the entire day.
Parrish faces two counts of aiding and abetting first-degree intentional murder. She was indicted by the same grand jury that indicted Nissalke for his alleged role in the Senenfelder slaying.
According to a criminal complaint filed against Nissalke, he killed Senenfelder because she refused to recant a statement that landed his “associate” James Raymond Bolstad, 62, in the La Crosse County Jail. Court documents state Nissalke plotted with other “associates,” at a party June 5, 1985, to kill Senenfelder. Parrish is one of Nissalke’s associates, County Attorney Chuck MacLean has said.
Senenfelder’s body was found with multiple stab wounds about 10:45 a.m. June 6, 1985.
According to the Nissalke complaint, he bragged to people several times about the killing.
The cold case was reopened in 2006 when DNA found at the scene was retested. That testing could not exclude Nissalke from being the contributor of that DNA. He was arrested May 22 when he allegedly threatened officers with a metal bar as they executed a search warrant at his home.
Nissalke is being held on $5 million bail or bond and is scheduled to return to court July 31 for a hearing on his assault charges stemming from the May 22 incident.
Bolstad has also been charged with aiding and abetting first-degree murder during witness tampering. He is currently serving a prison sentence in Oshkosh, Wis., and it remains unclear whether he will wait for his prison sentence to expire in 2009 before facing the charges in Winona.
Parrish, whose bail was set at a July 9 appearance, remains in custody on $1 million bail or $2 million bond.
Contact Kevin Behr at (507) 453-3524 or kbehr@winonadailynews.com.
