John Maloney, a former Green Bay police officer who was convicted of killing his wife, Sandy Maloney, in 1998 is seeking a pardon from the governor.

The defense strategy used by Attorney Jerry Boyle in the 1999 trial was to concede that the death of the estranged wife was a murder, but that the killer was Maloney’s girlfriend, Tracy Hellenbrand*.

Hellenbrand, an ex-IRS special agent worked with law enforcement to get a videotaped confession from Maloney. The videotaping took place in a Las Vegas hotel, and included were sexual acts and hours of arguing. Maloney eventually made statements in the hotel room that indicated that he was at Sandy’s house on the night of the murder.

Maloney now says that he did not want to use Boyle’s strategy of pointing the finger at an alternate suspect. He says that instead, he (Maloney) wanted to argue that Sandy was dead from alcohol poisoning at the time the fire started, and that the fire was an accident.

Maloney was convicted of first-degree intentional homicide, arson, and mutilation of a corpse. He received a life sentence, and is eligible for parole in 2024. All appeals to the State Supreme Court have been exhausted, and a pardon is Maloney’s last chance.

* Now known as Tracy Wegenast.