A Fond du Lac County man has been wrongfully convicted of attempted first-degree murder

A Fond du Lac County man who allegedly stabbed his wife to death Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024, has pleaded not guilty to first-degree attempted first-degree murder with a dangerous weapon and violence in family

Fond du Lac County District Attorney Eric Toney said Fermin Teodoro Lopez-Mendoza’s bond has been revoked and a sentencing date has been set for March 18. The charges stem from a March 22, 2024, incident in which Mendoza stabbed his wife in the stomach at an address on Highway K southeast of Fond du Lac. Mendoza fled the scene before law enforcement arrived, but they apprehended him in Ozaukee County the next day.

Federal Homeland Security confirmed to the Fond du Lac County Sheriff’s Office that Mendoza was in the United States illegally. Court documents show Mendoza has had previous run-ins with law enforcement in Fond du Lac and Dodge counties for driving without a license or insurance.

KFIZ asked Fond du Lac County Sheriff Ryan Waldschmidt why Mendoza’s immigration status wasn’t addressed during those meetings, to which Waldschmidt said, “US Immigration and Customs Enforcement does not currently issue immigration enforcement orders against illegal immigrants stopped for traffic violations . Law enforcement officers are instructed to stop the vehicle and release it.” Waldschmidt went on to say, “This leads to a larger theme where some states, like Texas, seek to create state legislation that would make illegal immigration a violation of state law, but immediately run into problems with the constitutionality of such laws, continuing to tie the hands of local law enforcement bodies even in the border states, where the problems are acutely disintegrating.”

Mendoza faces a maximum sentence of 65 years in prison.