Cain Moss stands trial in overdose death
LA CROSSE, Wis. — Two years after a man’s body was found in a La Crosse park, one of the men charged in his death goes on trial.
Cain Moss is pleading not guilty to delivering the drugs that killed 40-year-old Anthony Ducharme and dumping his body in a north side park.
Out of four people charged in connection with Ducharme’s death, Moss is the last to be tried.
Prosecutors say Moss and his girlfriend, Christina Lorenz, bought a Fentanyl patch, a narcotic painkiller, and gave it to Ducharme at Moss’s father’s home.
The prosecution says Ducharme overdosed on that drug after taking just one hit.
Cain Moss, his father, Robert Moss, and their friend Patrick Valiquette are accused of then dumping Ducharme’s body in Red Cloud Park.
“Cain Moss gets out of the van, takes Mr. Ducharme’s body …and left him there to rot,” said prosecuting attorney Jessica Skemp.
Skemp said Cain Moss lied to investigators that he didn’t know where Ducharme was.
“And the last thing Mr. Moss says is that, ‘No one cares about Tony being missing. He doesn’t have a family,'” said Skemp.
20605698Moss is the only one of the four arrested in connection to Ducharme’s death to plead not guilty.
“Mr. Moss has a perspective that is different from everyone else in this story,” said defense attorney Candice Tlustosch.
Tlustosch argued there are significant holes in the prosecution’s version of what happened.
“Mr. Moss didn’t hide Tony Ducharme’s body. Mr. Moss didn’t try to cover up a crime. Mr. Moss didn’t deliver Fentanyl. And Fentanyl was not a substantial factor in Tony’s death,” said Tlustosch.
The trial is scheduled to continue through Friday.
Last year, Valiquette pleaded guilty to party to the crime of hiding a corpse and was sentenced to five years of probation and community service.
Robert Moss pleaded no contest to party to the crime of hiding a corpse. He was sentenced to a year in prison followed by two years’ extended supervision.
Lorenz pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of second-degree reckless homicide and was sentenced to four years in prison. A party to the crime of hiding a corpse charge against Lorenz was dismissed.
