Man Appears in Marathon County Court for Homicide Charges

Thursday, January 22nd, 2026 -- 10:01 AM

(Mike Leischner, WSAU) The man accused of killing 31-year-old Jacob Socha has pleaded not guilty to homicide and other charges.

According to Mike Leischner with WSAU, Dustin Stinson entered the plea in a Marathon County courtroom on Wednesday morning. Investigators say he shot Socha, his roommate, on September 14th in the Lazy Acres Mobile Home Park.

Socha was hospitalized and died a few days later. Stinson was immediately named as a person of interest in the case. Police announced the charges in early October. Since then, he’s been held in the Taylor County Jail on a $1 million bond.

Additional charges against the 35-year-old include possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and tampering with a GPS monitoring device. He also faces numerous misdemeanor charges for bail jumping. Further court action is scheduled for January 28th.

He faces a mandatory life sentence if found guilty.

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