Ryan Erickson

A "John Doe" proceeding was held at the request of the family of Daniel O'Connell. On October 3, 2005, St. Croix District Attorney Eric Johnson presented the evidence to St. Croix County Judge Eric Lundell on the murders. Fifteen witnesses testified and other evidence was presented. Because the defendant was deceased, the hearing took place without a jury. Judge Lundell stated “I find that and conclude that Ryan Erickson probably committed these crimes in question. On a scale of one to ten as far as strength of evidence I would consider this ten. It is a very strong case for circumstantial evidence”. Erickson's attorney and parents refused to attend the hearing and deny his guilt. D.A. Eric Johnson explained that even though "the evidence was not cross-examined and was not heard by a jury", the judge's ruling "can be construed as a finding of guilt."

The teenager could "remember about ten" sexual incidents with Erickson, but was "frequently so drunk" while spending time with Erickson that he could not remember what happened the night before when he woke up. After police confiscated Erickson's computer they found "a deeply buried file" My Pictures\folder\holy Mass Prayers\Mass prayers\New Folder, which had been created on August 26, 2004, and last accessed December 12, 2004, shortly before Erickson’s suicide. It contained “more than forty images of gay and prepubescent male pornography in a variety of sex acts and poses,” some "involving bondage".

Erickson did not become a suspect and was not interviewed by police until November 2004, when detectives Jeffrey Knopps and Shawn Pettee traveled from Hudson to Hurley to interview Erickson about the sexual assaults they had heard about from a male student from North Dakota and former associate of Erickson that Knopps had interviewed. The detectives asked Erickson how Daniel O'Connell and James Ellison were killed. Erickson replied

Because Erickson had revealed information to the detectives "about the crime scene that had not been made public", they interviewed him again the next month. During this December 7, interview they confronted him with "discrepancies in his remarks about the murders". Two days later, investigators "executed a search warrant on his living quarters, looking for evidence that would connect him to the murders." Among the files they discovered was "a deeply buried file My Pictures\folder\holy Mass Prayers\Mass prayers\New Folder, which had been created on August 26, 2004, and last accessed December 12, 2004, shortly before Erickson’s suicide. It contained 'more than forty images of gay and prepubescent male pornography in a variety of sex acts and poses'.” On December 19 Erickson hung himself in the hallway of St. Mary's. His body was discovered by the church janitor and Richard Reams, a parishioner.

In notes left to family and friends, Erickson denied that he had killed "anyone", but also wrote, "my ego, my pride, my lust, my envy have always stopped me from being the best person I could be. I am tired." In reply to written questions about Erickson, former bishop Raphael Fliss, stated, “The diocese [of Superior] did not learn of any improper sexual behavior by Erickson until Dec. 17, 2004, when Hudson police officers, during their investigation, informed the diocese of allegations that Erickson sexually molested a minor while a priest and had pornographic files on his computer.” Leon Podles points out that although the diocese of Superior knew that Erickson had "admitted to incidents of sexual abuse" and had been accused of abuse before and while he was in the seminary, they had not included him on the list of accused priests "in its own audit" or the John Jay School of Criminal Justice list of sexual abusers "because the incidents and accusations did not occur when Erickson was a priest." He also notes that the family of Daniel O'Connell has complained that "no one from the diocese called O’Connell’s widow to offer condolences or apologies. In fact, the only member of the clergy to call on the widow in the three and a half years after the murder was Ryan Erickson, the murderer."

During this time (on September 16, 2003) Erickson was reassigned to Our Lady of Sorrows in Ladysmith, Wisconsin, as assistant pastor. The head pastor at the church (Rev. John Anderson), complained to his Bishop (Fliss) that Erickson drank. When Anderson confronted and reprimanded Erickson for spending "the weekend partying on Beer Can Island, a teenage hangout", Erickson replied that he had not been a priest that weekend. On August 10, 2004, Erickson was transferred to St. Mary's of the Seven Dolors church, in Hurley, Wisconsin 200 miles northeast of Hudson.

On February 5, 2002, funeral home director Daniel O'Connell and mortuary science intern James Ellison were found shot to death at O'Connell Funeral Home.

According to Raphael Michael Fliss—bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Superior at the time—the diocese was informed of allegations of inappropriate sexual behavior by Erickson in 1992, but an investigation by Catholic authorities of Erickson concluded that he “does not appear to be predatory or exploitative in his overall orientation, and he does not seem to be a high risk for acting in a sexually aggressive or manipulative manner in the future”. Erickson "was allowed to enter St. Paul Seminary," (he had already been admitted provisionally) ordained in June 2000 and assigned to St. Patrick's Church in Hudson, Wisconsin about 20 miles from St. Paul, MN.

Ryan Erickson (January 17, 1973 – December 19, 2004) was a Roman Catholic priest and associate pastor at St. Patrick Church in Hudson, Wisconsin, who died by suicide on December 19, 2004. In October 2005, St. Croix County Judge Eric Lundell found probable cause that Erickson killed funeral home director Daniel O'Connell and mortuary science intern James Ellison almost three years earlier, shortly before O'Connell was to confront Erickson with allegations that he had sexually abused a teenage boy. Prior to the suicide, police had questioned Erickson "twice in five weeks" about the two killings, had searched his rectory and had seized his computer and other items.