Paramedics found a 79-year-old woman gravely ill outside an Ellison Bay-area home after Richard Engberg finally called 911.
ELLISON BAY, Wis. — The criminal case against Richard C. Engberg began with a 911 call from his own home on Sept. 7, when the 83-year-old told emergency responders that a 79-year-old woman who had been living with him needed medical help. What paramedics encountered near the front porch led to an arrest, a death and a felony abuse charge.
The woman was alive when crews arrived but was barely responsive, according to the criminal complaint described by local news organizations. She was lying on her side on the ground outside the residence, covered by a comforter and suffering from extensive open wounds. Responders reported signs of a severe infestation in some of the wounds and said she cried or moaned in pain when they tried to move her. She was stabilized enough to be transported from the property, taken to the Ephraim-Gibraltar Airport and flown to HSHS St. Vincent Hospital in Green Bay. She died three days later, on Sept. 10.
By then, investigators were trying to understand how long the woman had been outside and why medical care had not been requested sooner. Engberg told paramedics and Door County sheriff’s investigators that she had remained near the porch for at least a week and possibly as long as two weeks. He said he knew she was in poor condition but believed she wanted to stay there. He described bringing her food and water, wiping her clean and sometimes using a garden hose adjusted to a fine spray. Authorities say those circumstances instead support an allegation that the woman was subjected to prolonged and dangerous neglect.
The emergency did not begin on the porch, according to the account Engberg gave investigators. He said the woman had started showing memory problems and unusual behavior roughly three weeks before he called 911. Among the changes he described was erratic driving. About a week later, he said, she experienced an episode that appeared to him to be a seizure, including twitching and unusual speech. He also described later bruising and blistering. The complaint does not indicate that a doctor evaluated those symptoms during that period, and authorities say no emergency call was made while her condition continued to decline.
Engberg said the woman did not want hospital treatment and initially wanted to wait to see whether she would recover. As her condition worsened, he told investigators, she began spending more time outside because she said the porch area was comfortable and she liked the fresh air. He said attempts to move or touch her caused her to yell in pain. The complaint describes a progression in which she accepted only limited food, including yogurt and ice cream, then began refusing food and water. Engberg said he continued trying to care for her at home instead of immediately contacting medical professionals.
The point at which the situation became an emergency, in Engberg’s account, was when she stopped responding. He told investigators he had spoken with his brother, who urged him to call emergency services. Engberg also said he and the woman had discussed when they would seek treatment and had wanted to see whether she improved before going to a hospital. Authorities have not released any independent account from the woman about those discussions. Because she died before the criminal case was filed, Engberg’s description of what she wanted remains an assertion recorded in the investigation rather than testimony that has been tested in court.
Emergency workers expressed concern that went beyond the woman’s injuries. According to the complaint, paramedics who dealt with Engberg questioned whether he had the cognitive ability to care for himself, let alone another vulnerable adult. A sheriff’s sergeant also reported uncertainty about whether Engberg understood his constitutional rights when officers attempted to advise him of them. Investigators nevertheless documented his statements about the woman’s decline, her time near the porch, the food and water he said he provided and his decision not to seek medical help until Sept. 7.
Engberg was arrested Sept. 9. Prosecutors later charged him with recklessly subjecting an individual at risk to abuse causing death. The woman is not named in the complaint, although authorities described her as his girlfriend or domestic partner. Engberg told investigators that the two had lived together for about nine years. He also said she had a surviving son living in Luxemburg and that another son had died about three years earlier. Authorities have not publicly identified the woman through the charging document, and published reports have continued to withhold her name.
The criminal charge does not allege that Engberg deliberately killed the woman. Instead, prosecutors accuse him of reckless abuse based on the conditions in which she allegedly remained and the length of time before professional care was obtained. The allegation is classified as a Class C felony. Under Wisconsin’s felony classification law, a Class C conviction can carry up to 40 years of imprisonment and a fine of up to $100,000. Engberg is presumed innocent unless prosecutors prove the charge beyond a reasonable doubt or the case is otherwise resolved through the court process.
Questions about Engberg’s mental ability quickly became a separate issue. At his Sept. 21 initial appearance in Door County Circuit Court, his attorney requested a competency evaluation. Judge David Weber ordered the assessment. In criminal proceedings, competency concerns whether a defendant presently understands what is happening in court and can assist an attorney with the defense. It is different from determining guilt or deciding what the defendant intended when the alleged conduct occurred. Engberg remained in custody on $100,000 cash bail while the examination was completed.
A hearing scheduled for Oct. 29 was expected to address the evaluation, but the proceeding instead produced another delay. Attorney Carrie LaPlant, appearing on behalf of assigned public defender Shannon Viel, said Viel disputed the findings of the court-ordered examination and wanted a second evaluation. District Attorney Colleen Nordin told the court that the prosecution accepted the original findings. The state did not object to giving the defense additional time. Weber granted roughly 45 days for the defense to find its own examiner and scheduled a status conference for Dec. 17.
While the legal case develops, accounts from Ellison Bay residents provide a different view of the period before emergency crews arrived. Community members interviewed by WLUK said they had known the woman and Engberg as longtime participants in the area and were shocked by the circumstances described in the complaint. They said they had not known that the woman was facing serious health problems or that there were difficulties between the pair. No publicly reported witness account establishes that neighbors saw the woman’s condition while she was outside, leaving investigators’ reconstruction and Engberg’s statements as the central descriptions of what occurred.
The Dec. 17 conference is now the next confirmed court date reported in the case. The defense is expected to use the intervening period to seek another psychiatric opinion before Weber determines how to proceed with the competency issue. Until that question is settled, the court has not moved to a determination of the abuse allegation itself. Engberg remains jailed, the woman’s identity remains withheld in the complaint and no trial date has been announced.
Author note: Last updated Nov. 7, 2026.