Suspect Arrested for Strangulation Death at Taylor County Recovery Center Appears in Court Today

Thursday, January 25th, 2024 -- 3:01 PM

(Mike Leischner, WSAU) A suspect has been arrested in connection with last week’s strangulation death at a Taylor County recovery center.

According to Mike Leischner with WSAU, police say that 37-year-old Cory Carlson was arrested on Tuesday and charged with first-degree intentional homicide and one count of strangulation or suffocation.

He will appear in a Medford courtroom on Thursday where a judge will set his bail. Staff at the Almost Home Again residential mental health facility located in Aurora say that Carlson had been hearing voices and told them he was “having bad thoughts.”

The staff also noted that he had been walking out of the facility into subzero temperatures without shoes or a winter coat on. Police say he strangled 61-year-old Joseph B. Bonney, who was also a patient at the facility.

According to the criminal complaint, he told investigators he didn’t remember exactly what he did and that he was delusional at the time of the incident. Officers were called to the facility last Wednesday when Bonney was found unresponsive in his room.

He was pronounced dead at the scene, and at the time officers said they had a suspect in mind but were not ready to name them. Officers later said that the investigation was pointing to another resident at the facility.

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