A Wisconsin man behind bars for murder pleaded not guilty in court this week and claims he never harmed his two young children.
Matthew Beyer, 36, entered a not guilty plea Monday in an Appleton courtroom, to two counts of first-degree intentional homicide, AP reports.
As CrimeOnline previously reported, 5-year-old William Beyer and 3-year-old Danielle Beyer passed away from “homicidal violence” in February. The incident happened inside the upper level of a duplex in Kaukauna, off of Cooks Avenue. Police were alerted to the incident when the children’s mother called 911 and claimed, “their children needed help.”
When authorities arrived, they found both children with “intentionally inflicted injuries.” Both children were later pronounced dead.
Fox 11 News reports that the parents of the children, who admittedly had a volatile relationship, were scheduled to appear in family court the day the children were found deceased.
Security cameras and witness accounts indicated that someone who matched Beyer’s description had been spotted at the children’s home on the day in question.
“Det. Krueger reports making the death notification to Matthew Beyer and noting very little initial emotional response by Matthew Beyer to learning of the deaths of his young children,” the complaint read.
“Det. Krueger reports he has done many death notifications and found Matthew’s lack of emotion extremely unusual, especially because the death notification was about his two children.”
During a subsequent interview in June, Beyer allegedly changed his story and said he did go to Kaukana in February but didn’t go to his children’s home.
A witness, however, said Beyer told them that “if he would have done it, he would have used a screwdriver through the side of the neck to puncture the larynx so they couldn’t scream out, or a sharp pocket knife to cut their throats so they could not scream out to alert someone,” according to the criminal complaint.
The witness also reportedly said Beyer was upset about paying child support and “did not even believe he was the father.”
According to the autopsy report, Danielle was stabbed five times in the neck, and William was stabbed eight times to his neck and head.
On Monday, Judge Mark McGinnis approved the release of the children’s bodies to their mother, who’ll have them cremated.
Check back for updates.
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[Feature Photo: William and Danielle Beyer/Handout]
