A jury of seven men and seven women was seated Monday afternoon in Manitowoc County, Wisconsin, clearing the way for opening statements in the trial of Timothy Hauschultz, who is accused of ordering the backyard punishment that led to the 2018 death of his 7-year-old great-nephew, Ethan Hauschultz. The panel was chosen from nearly 100 prospective jurors after attorneys questioned 21 candidates individually and excused 13 before filling the box.
The case, which has wound through more than eight years of delays, formally opened as attorneys prepared for opening statements, according to WTAQ. Ethan died on April 20, 2018, after being found in a snowbank in the town of Newton, and was pronounced dead at Holy Family Memorial Medical Center, according to WLUK. The Milwaukee County Medical Examiner later determined his cause of death was hypothermia combined with blunt force trauma to his head, chest and abdomen, per CBS 58.
A Punishment That Turned Deadly
According to the station's report, Ethan was required to carry a log for two hours around a backyard path after failing to recite 13 Bible verses, with Timothy Hauschultz accused of selecting the logs used in the punishment per the criminal complaint. The log weighed approximately two-thirds of the seven-year-old's body weight.
Per the same account, Timothy Hauschultz told his son Damian, then 14, to supervise the punishment of the younger children, including Ethan, in 2018. The complaint alleges Damian hit, kicked, struck and poked Ethan roughly 100 times, stood on his body and head while he lay face-down in a puddle, and buried him in about 80 pounds of packed snow for 20 to 30 minutes without a coat or boots. Ethan's parents were not home at the time of his death, the complaint states.
Prosecutors and Defense Clash Over Blame
Prosecutors contend that Timothy Hauschultz set the fatal sequence in motion by initiating the punishment and leaving Damian unsupervised, while the defense argues Damian acted outside his father's instructions and bears sole responsibility, the article notes. Timothy Hauschultz now faces six charges, including neglecting a child with death as a consequence and intentionally contributing to a child's delinquency resulting in death.
The trial is scheduled to last two weeks, per the same report. Damian Hauschultz pleaded guilty to reckless homicide in June 2021 and was sentenced to 20 years in prison; a judge added five years of extended supervision after his prison term this past June. The Wisconsin Court of Appeals upheld Damian's first-degree reckless homicide conviction in March 2024, rejecting his bid to overturn the sentence, according to FOX6 Milwaukee.
Years of Delays and a Judge Reassigned
Manitowoc County trial judges twice rejected proposed plea agreements, including a February 2025 deal that would have let Timothy Hauschultz plead guilty to two child abuse felonies in exchange for dropping murder charges, as reported by Court TV. The judge ruled that reducing the primary murder charges was not in the public interest. Manitowoc County Circuit Judge Jerilyn Dietz recused herself in May 2025, prompting Calumet County Circuit Judge Carey Reed to take over as presiding judge.
In December 2025 pretrial arguments, defense attorneys and prosecutors clashed over whether Damian Hauschultz would testify, as his appellate counsel advised he would invoke his Fifth Amendment rights while appealing his own conviction. Damian was the primary person enforcing the punishment at age 14, making his potential testimony — or absence from the stand — a central question for both sides heading into trial.
Guardianship and the Other Adult in the Case
Ethan was placed in the Hauschultz home as a foster child, and Timothy and Tina Hauschultz were court-appointed guardians. Tina McKeever-Hauschultz was sentenced in March 2021 in Manitowoc County Circuit Court to five years in prison followed by five years of extended supervision for failing to prevent child abuse, according to Seehafer News. She served her prison term and was released to extended supervision in January 2024.
With the jury now seated, opening statements were set to begin, placing the long-delayed case before a Manitowoc County courtroom more than eight years after Ethan Hauschultz's death. The trial is expected to weigh whether a guardian who orders extreme discipline but delegates its execution to a minor bears criminal responsibility for the outcome — a question with implications for how Wisconsin's foster guardianship system handles accountability going forward.
