APPLETON, WI – The quiet streets of Appleton were shattered one summer night when a brutal act inside a modest apartment sparked a series of events that would end with a shocking trial and a life sentence. Samantha Jean Krebs, 40, now faces the prospect of spending most of her remaining years behind bars after a jury found her guilty of killing her boyfriend, Joseph “Joey” Carnot, in a crime that stunned the local community.
On June 18, authorities rushed to a home west of downtown, where they found Carnot dying from a stab wound to the chest. The confrontation that led to his death spiraled from an argument that quickly turned deadly, casting a shadow over what began as an ordinary evening.
Two friends, a couple who had planned a night of games and laughter, became accidental witnesses to the aftermath. Their arrival at the apartment turned surreal as they stumbled upon a gruesome scene—blood pooling, chaos unfolding, and Krebs, desperate to rewrite what had just happened. According to police accounts, Krebs locked eyes with one of the visitors and instructed them to tell officers that Carnot had stabbed himself.
While Carnot fought for his life, Krebs, seemingly more worried about her fate than her boyfriend’s injuries, pleaded with those present for help finding her belongings. Witnesses later described her anguish and panic, confessing that Krebs herself feared being sent back to prison, a place she knew too well from past convictions.
Court documents reveal Krebs’ criminal history stretches over a decade, including serious offenses such as battery and multiple drug charges. The details painted a portrait of a woman all too familiar with the justice system—a fact that prosecutors argued weighed heavily in the events of that fateful night.
When prosecutors presented their case, they claimed Krebs was under the influence of methamphetamine at the time of Carnot’s stabbing. They alleged she plunged a kitchen knife into his chest after a heated dispute, then attempted to stage the scene and evade responsibility in the days that followed. Investigators tracked Krebs down hours after the attack as she drove away from the crime scene in a car with no license plates, later confronting her at a friend’s apartment where she maintained her innocence.
Throughout her trial, Krebs stuck to her version of events, claiming that Carnot’s death was self-inflicted. She took the stand in her own defense, but jurors were not persuaded. After five days of testimony and brief deliberation, the verdict was unanimous: guilty of first-degree intentional homicide.
The courtroom atmosphere was tense as Judge Vincent Biskupic sentenced Krebs to life in prison, with the possibility of parole only after she serves 36 years. Expressing no remorse, Krebs tearfully insisted she was not responsible for Carnot’s death, telling the court she could not fathom intentionally harming the man she loved.
But the judge was adamant, rebuking Krebs for refusing to accept responsibility and rejecting her claims of innocence. He cited the evidence and witness accounts as reason enough to dismiss her repeated assertions that Carnot’s death was a suicide.
As Krebs was led from the courtroom, the turbulent saga of a troubled couple, tangled by addiction and violence, came to a grim conclusion. For the victim’s friends and family, the sentence marked the end of a harrowing chapter, though the scars of that June night will likely linger long after the doors of the prison close.