Kevin Conrad Lychwick’s first moments defending himself at his homicide trial in Waukesha quickly unraveled as objections repeatedly interrupted his opening statement. The 63-year-old, charged with first-degree intentional homicide and hiding a corpse, tried to tell jurors he was not guilty in the death of his neighbor, Carlos Maldonado.
That opening mattered because Lychwick is not just the defendant in the case; he is his own lawyer, and the courtroom now has to handle a murder trial shaped by his questions, his objections and his limits. Maldonado, 55, disappeared in April 2024 and was last seen alive on April 14, setting off a search that ended months later in the woods outside the apartment complex where both men lived.
A maintenance worker found a blue tarp there on Oct. 30, 2024, and it covered Maldonado’s decomposing remains. A medical examiner determined he had been shot twice, once in the torso and once in the center of the face, and two projectiles were found with the body. Prosecutors say those projectiles matched a 1939 Luger firearm police found in the trunk of Lychwick’s car after stopping him for speeding.
Jurors are also being asked to weigh trail camera video investigators say shows Lychwick near the spot where the body was found on April 29, carrying what appeared to be a white trash bag and, at one point, a tool. Investigators said he seemed to be looking into windows of the apartment complex as if checking whether anyone was watching him, and a search of his home allegedly turned up handwritten notes that listed several operations. One was labeled Operation Slop Shop with Maldonado’s name beneath it, while another paper said the operation had been completed and the threats from the first stop had been neutralized.
Lychwick pushed back hard in court, saying, “I am not a killer,” and, “I am not guilty of this crime.” He told jurors he felt sorry for his neighbor but did not know him well enough to have any animus against him, and he added that the largest warm-blooded animal he had ever killed was a skunk that ran in front of his car by accident years ago. He also tried to argue that police searches were illegal, only for Judge David Maas to warn him that the court had already ruled the searches valid and constitutional.
That clash is likely to define the rest of the trial. Lychwick has already told the jury, “I am unprepared for this trial. I am in poo,” a remark that underscored just how difficult it may be for him to control a case built on physical evidence, digital footage and a jury that will hear both his denial and the state’s claim that the evidence points squarely at him.
