Revisiting “The Monfils 6 Case – 30 Years Later” with local author Joe Verdegan

DUNBAR – In 1992, the death of a paper mill worker led to a joint trial during which six men were sentenced to life in prison in a divisive case still talked about far beyond Green Bay.

Decades later, Joe Verdegan of Dunbar is breaking down the facts and unanswered questions with first-hand accounts in his book “The Monfils 6 Case - 30 Years Later.”

Verdegan had been building related experience long before publishing “The Monfils 6 Case” in 2025, having worked as news reporter, written six books on motorsports and spent 27 years as a correctional officer at the Green Bay Correctional Institution.

His time working in the correctional institute — as well as the publication of his book “The Reformatory - Tales from Green Bay’s Maximum Security Prison — brought this case to the forefront of his mind.

“I got to know one of the defendants, Dale Basten, very well. He was actually like my trusty on the unit I worked at. So, I got to know the case inside and out,” Verdegan explained.

Baston was one of six men known as the “Monfils 6,” a group of six men sentenced for the Nov. 21, 1992, murder of paper mill employee Thomas Monfils. After Monfils’ body was found submerged in a pulp vat, a two-and-a-half-year investigation led to six of his coworkers sentenced to life in prison as co-defendants in a joint trial instead of six separate trials.

The choices made in this case have been viewed as controversial by many, leading to written works, podcasts and documentaries — some of which Verdegan himself has been interviewed for — regarding the guilt or innocence of those involved. Members of the “Monfils 6” maintained their innocence, appearing at public speaking engagements to talk about justice and criminial procedures.

In addition to Basten, Verdegan also had connections to two of the other men — with Mike Pyascowski (exonerated in 2001) and Keith Kutska (paroled in August 2023) having known Verdegan’s father and uncle. The other three men included Michael Hirn (paroled in June 2018), Michael Johnson (paroled in June 2019) and Rey Moore (paroled in July 2019).

Following Verdegan’s retirement in 2020, he dedicated his time to studying the case.

“I spent five years digging into this case, sifting through hundreds of pages of documents, police statements, criminal complaints and past news articles,” he explained.

“This is by far the toughest book I’ve written,” Verdegan added.

While writing “The Monfils 6 Case,” Verdegan spoke with four of the six men during in-depth interviews in addition to members of the defense team. He especially learned first-hand from Kutska, who was set to accompany Verdegan to a speaking engagement in Wausaukee. Kutsa ultimately suffered a fatal heart attack just days before the appearance whilst granted leave from the state to visit a friend in Arizona.

Outside of the defense, securing interviews with members from the prosecution was not as easily done.

“Not as many on the prosecution side were willing to talk. Out of all the interviews I did, there were only three of them on the prosecution side that were willing to step up and talk to me,” he said.

“I had a lot of people ghost me, they didn’t want any part [in talking] to me about this case. You know, I got some threatening-type emails,” Verdagen continued.

Verdagen was also unable to interview anyone who served on the Racine County jury, despite contacting every surviving jury member through multiple methods.

“I have more questions now than I did when I started writing the book, to be honest with you,” he shared.

Many people still debate on the findings of the case, and Verdagen delves into some outside factors that may have weighed on minds.

He theorized that one factor contributing to the guilty findings may have been the not guilty verdict for O.J. Simpson in the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman. This case was heavily covered by the media and ended the same month the “Monfils 6” trial began.

Verdegan explained, “There may be evidence that the Racine County jury was aware of O.J.’s not guilty verdict and kind of said, ‘We can’t let that happen in our county.’”

Still, opinions stray far beyond whether the joint trial court case itself was handled correctly.

“Tom Monfils’ own brother thought he committed suicide and jumped in the vat,” he shared.

As far as Verdegan’s own opinions on the case goes, he said, “People always ask me, ‘What do you think? Do you think they’re guilty or innocent?’ What I say is that… there’s just a lot of holes in this case, there just are. A lot of what the prosecution alleged simply didn’t pass the smell test.”

Verdegan will be sharing more about the details of the case and his experience researching and writing “The Monfils 6 Case - 30 Years Later” at the Niagara Public Library during an author talk and book signing at 7 p.m. on Monday, May 4. He will have all eight of his titles available at the signing, including his 2020 best-seller “The Reformatory - Tales From Green Bay’s Maximum-Security Prison” and his motorsports books.

To learn more about Verdegan and his books, visit www.joeverdegan.com.