Waukesha - Just four days out of prison, David A. Wapp savagely murdered his ex-girlfriend on Sept. 5 after they quarreled in her car.
Moments after he attacked Samantha Peterson, Wapp, with blood on his hands and shirt, told an acquaintance, "I stabbed her, I killed her bro. I'm going to go to prison for the rest of my life."
On Wednesday, that prediction came true. Waukesha County Circuit Judge J. Mac Davis sentenced Wapp, 30, to life in prison with no possibility for parole for killing Peterson, 21, of Waukesha.
Wapp, who has a long and violent criminal record, stabbed and cut Peterson 37 times in the chest, neck and arms in two separate attacks the night of Sept. 5.
"He's a dangerous man, and they don't offer any treatment anywhere on this earth for what he's got, what he is. David Wapp is evil," Davis said after hearing Peterson's mother and friends call for the harshest sentence possible and Wapp's relatives asking for some leniency.
"Now his family members talk about some of the positives of his growing up, and I don't doubt the truth of any of it. Evil often shows us a smiling face and it just makes evil more effective. But it's evil nevertheless," Davis said. "I expect a higher power than I will judge David Wapp, and I believe that judgment will be harsher than any judgment I can give."
The crime carried a life term. The only question on Wednesday was whether Wapp would get any chance of being released after serving 20 or more years.
But Davis said Wapp needed to be locked away forever because "he is beyond help" and "he will never, ever be safe to be in the community."
Wapp did not speak at his sentencing hearing, other than to tell the judge that he did not want to make a statement. A jury, which viewed pictures of Peterson and her wounds during the trial, on April 21 convicted Wapp of first-degree intentional homicide after deliberating for less than 30 minutes.
During the sentencing hearing, Peterson's mother, Denise, spoke about the heartache of losing a daughter and friend to violence. To Wapp, she said, "You have shown no remorse for what you did to Sam and that pain you have inflicted on her family."
Assistant District Attorney Kevin M. Osborne said he couldn't remember a more vicious crime in his career than this one. "The violence was extreme. . . . I've never had a case like that before and hopefully will never have one again," he said.
During the hearing, Peterson's relatives and friends were critical of the state Department of Corrections over its release plan for Wapp in September. He was supposed to live in transitional housing in Waukesha, where he would have been under electronic monitoring. But there was no bed available, so he was approved to stay temporarily with an adult relative in Waukesha County without electronic monitoring, according to the Department of Corrections.
Outside the courtroom, Osborne said that even if Wapp had been in transitional housing, it likely would not have stopped the crime.