Owen Backus appears in Brown County court, October 18, 2024. PC: Fox 11 Online
GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – A jury convicted Owen Backus of second-degree intentional homicide for the murder of Michael Hubbard at a west-side home in December, 2023. Sentencing is June 9.
Backus, 46, had been charged with first-degree intentional homicide, but the jury returned the verdict on the lesser charge of second-degree Thursday afternoon. That means the jury found a mitigating factor for provocation; Backus argued the death was in self-defense.
The lesser count means instead of a mandatory life prison term, Backus faces up to 60 years in the prison system.
According to the criminal complaint, Backus returned to his Western Avenue home and found Hubbard in the residence. Backus and Hubbard argued about Hubbard rearranging the house, taking things off the walls, and painting. Backus took a shower, and while there, he was attacked by Hubbard with a wrench, and the two began to fight. Hubbard was hit in the head with a glass pitcher, hog-tied, then choked with a cable.
“Backus indicated his actions were in self-defense, he did not want to kill anyone, and he was protecting his home,” the complaint states.
Comments