‘You brutally murdered two innocent people’: Lincoln man gets back-to-back life sentences

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) – A man was ordered Tuesday to serve consecutive life sentences for the murders of two homeless men in Lincoln last summer.

In July, 56-year-old William Wright pleaded no contest to amended charges of two counts of second-degree murder.

At the sentencing, defense attorney Sanford J. Pollack said Wright cooperated with police during the investigation and accepted responsibility for the murders.

He added that Wright was homeless for over 10 years and that drug use runs rampant among the homeless.

“The system let all three of these men down,” Pollack said. “They want to work but can’t find jobs. They don’t want to be on the street, but there’s nowhere else to go. The social supports are deficient.”

Pastor Tom Barber of the People’s City Mission disagreed with that argument.

“Homelessness is a terrible thing, but it’s absolutely no excuse for murder,” he told Channel 8.

The prosecution said the circumstances surrounding the attacks were senseless.

Lancaster County District Judge Darla S. Ideus said Wright showed little remorse. She thinks he could have killed others had he not been caught.

“You brutally murdered two innocent people without any provocation,” she told Wright. “These two people did nothing but find themselves in your path during that two-to-three-day window.”

At the end of August 2022, Wright and 49-year-old Ronnie Patz rented a room at a Motel 6 in north Lincoln, where they spent the night drinking.

Court documents say the two got into an argument, and Wright struck Patz on the head with a bottle before strangling him.

The next morning, Wright hid Patz’s body in a dumpster outside the motel.

Later that day, Wright met up with 61-year-old Ronald George. At some point overnight, he stabbed George in the neck three times, according to court documents.

George’s body was found the next morning.

Police spent several days searching the city landfill for evidence and piecing the facts together.

Wright was arrested at the People’s City Mission after staff said he bragged to others about committing the murders.

All three of the men had frequented the mission before the murders.

He said the violent events shocked everyone at the shelter.

Despite agreeing with the verdict, Barber said, “For us, nothing good really came out of this.”

“We lost two wonderful people and then we really lost a third now, too,” he said. “So, it’s just sad.”