Plea/Sentencing Hearing Set for Man Accused of Strangling Patient at Taylor County Mental Health Facility

Wednesday, August 14th, 2024 -- 1:01 PM

(Mike Leischner, WSAU) A plea and sentencing hearing has been scheduled for the man accused of strangling 61-year-old Joseph Bonny at a Taylor County mental health facility.

According to Mike Leischner with WSAU, Cory Carlson will return to court on August 22nd to plea for one count of first-degree intentional homicide and a count of strangulation or suffocation. The 37-year-old has previously pled not guilty to the charges by mental disease or defect.

Police say he strangled 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.

Staff at the Almost Home Again residential facility also noted that Carlson had been walking away from the home in sub-zero temperatures without appropriate clothing. He also admitted that he had been having “bad thoughts” before the incident.

Autopsy results showed Bonney died from asphyxiation. If found guilty of intentional homicide, Carlson faces a mandatory life sentence.

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