Federal Court Upholds Conviction of Waukesha County Murderer

A federal judge has denied convicted murderer Chad Lurvey’s request to be released from prison, according to Attorney General Brad Schimel.

“I successfully prosecuted many homicide cases during my 25 years in the Waukesha County District Attorney’s Office, and Chad Lurvey was among the worst I encountered,” said AG Schimel. “The murders were premeditated and cowardly. This was a long and complex case, but in the end we locked up a murderer after convicting him on two counts of first-degree homicide. I’m glad I have been able to see this case through to the end and applaud the court’s decision to deny Chad Lurvey’s request.”

In 2011, a Waukesha County jury found Lurvey guilty of killing two of his alleged drug-dealing associates, Brian Lazzaro and Andrew Long. A search party found Lazzaro’s body in a pond on Lurvey’s property, and a later search by law enforcement uncovered Long’s body in the pond as well. The Waukesha County Circuit Court sentenced him to two consecutive life sentences.

Lurvey filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin after Wisconsin’s state court’s rejected his challenges to his convictions.

In the final decision, United States Magistrate Judge Nancy Joseph concluded the state courts had properly admitted evidence at trial about the circumstances of law enforcement’s search of Lurvey’s property and about a statement that Long made before he died.

Lurvey remains incarcerated at Columbia Correctional Institution. Assistant Attorney General Marguerite Moeller represented the State of Wisconsin in state court appellate proceedings and in federal court.