Ex-financial adviser, husband die mid-trial

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OSHKOSH, Wis. (AP) — The husband of a former financial adviser who was in the middle of a trial for allegedly stealing money from elderly clients killed her and then himself on Monday as part of a mutual plan, Oshkosh County Sheriff John Matz said.

The sheriff said at a news conference that Dewey Josephson, 59, shot his wife, Jean Walsh-Josephson, 57, then turned the shotgun on himself. He said both appeared to have been involved in planning the incident and said their farewells. Their bodies were found in a bedroom and they had written their own obituaries and a letter to loved ones.

Deputies were sent to the couple’s home in the town of Utica to check on Walsh-Josephson’s welfare just after 8:30 a.m., after she failed to show up in court Monday morning. They found the bodies inside.

Based on information from her GPS monitor, investigators believe she was still alive as of 6:30 a.m.

Walsh-Josephson was in the midst of a two-week trial on charges of stealing from elderly clients when she worked at Thrivent Financial in Oshkosh.

Prosecutors allege that she stole more than $4 million from at least 14 victims going back about a decade, but the actual 39 counts involved the thefts of $1.4 million from seven clients in Winnebago and Outagamie counties, the Oshkosh Northwestern reported.

In her opening statement last week, prosecutor Tracy Paider painted a picture of a greedy financial adviser who stole millions from her most vulnerable clients and spent it on home improvement projects, vehicles and lavish Fourth of July parties.

But defense attorney Kevin Musolf told the jury that while the evidence may appear to show his client’s guilt, following the money would demonstrate that the prosecution’s numbers didn’t add up.