A woman who sued six men convicted of killing her husband and throwing his body into a vat of mud-like paper pulp faces another delay in her 5-year-old lawsuit.
Brown County Circuit Judge Donald Zuidmulder has removed himself from the case on grounds that he was a former law partner of an attorney who once represented one of the defendants.
The judge is the fifth to remove himself from Susan Monfils’ lawsuit against her husband’s co-workers at the James River Corp. paper mill. She alleges the men and their union local conspired to harass, intimidate and kill Tom Monfils in November 1992.
Her husband’s death followed a call he made to police about an alleged planned theft by a co-worker. The co-worker learned of the call and confronted Tom Monfils, along with five other men.
Tom Monfils’ beaten body was found in a pulp vat at the mill with a 50-pound weight tied to his neck.
In a criminal trial, the six men were convicted of being party to first-degree intentional homicide and are serving life prison terms.
