Update: Plea Scheduled in Waukesha Homicide Case

Update, 4:10 p.m. Thursday: A plea hearing has been scheduled on the homicide charge against Steven P. Osburn, who is accused of killing 23-year-old Zachary Gallenberg. Osburn will be in court at 1 p.m. Friday for a plea hearing.

Messages were left for defense attorney Gerald Boyle and Deputy District Attorney Stephen Centinario seeking additional information Thursday afternoon.

Centinario said the call from Waukesha County Judge Mark Gundrum’s office that the plea hearing had been scheduled “took me by surprise.”

“I plan on being there, but until something actually happens in the courtroom, I can’t really say what is going to happen,” Centinario said.

Boyle confirmed Thursday night that Osburn intends to plead to second-degree intentional homicide. In exchange for the plea, prosecutors have agreed to cap their sentencing recommendations at 20 to 25 years of initial confinement in prison, Boyle said. The defense attorneys are free to argue for a lower sentence.

Boyle visited Osburn in the Waukesha County Jail Thursday evening after Osburn told Boyle’s associate he wanted to plea to the homicide.

“It is solely his decision,” Boyle said. “We would have gone either way.”

Boyle noted that the defense attorneys representing Osburn were prepared to argue for self defense in the case.

Earlier: Attorneys preparing for a homicide trial that starts Monday against 25-year-old Steven P. Osburn are hopeful that the jury trial will conclude by next week Friday.

Deputy District Attorney Stephen Centinario said in court Thursday morning that he has 52 witness names but intends to call about 25 witnesses to the stand during the trial. Realistically, Centinario said, the trial could be finished by the end of the week.

“I wouldn’t promise that,” Centinario added as Waukesha County Judge Mark Gundrum was looking for information to tell the jury about the expected length of the trial. The jury selection will begin Monday morning.

Defense attorney Gerald Boyle said in court he intends to call a few people to the witness stand.

“It depends on who Mr. Centinario calls or doesn’t call,” Boyle said.

Boyle previously said in court Osburn, an Army veteran, will testify during the trial. Boyle has also alluded to seeking self defense.

Osburn is accused of killing his friend, 23-year-old Zachary S. Gallenberg, in a Waukesha neighborhood on Aug. 6, 2010, is charged with first-degree intentional homicide, strangulation and suffocation, intimidating a victim/threaten force and intentionally point firearm at person.

A witness to the shooting told Waukesha Police Department officers that she, Gallenberg and Osburn had consumed some alcohol during the night of Aug. 5. Osburn and Gallenberg, a Marines veteran, were arguing about their different branches of the military throughout the night, according to the criminal complaint filed in Waukesha County Circuit Court.

The woman told investigators at one point in the evening, Osburn began choking her before going into his bedroom and then outside. Gallenberg eventually followed, she told police, and tried to give Osburn a bear hug, which is when Osburn took out a gun and shot Gallenberg, the complaint states.

In the meantime, police officers responded to the residence because Osburn called 911 and said if they did not respond, he would kill someone. One of the officers was approaching the residence when he heard the gunshot sound. Other officers were approaching the building at the same time. One officer reported turning the corner of the building, seeing Osburn, hearing yelling and then seeing the muzzle flash, according to the complaint

Osburn admitted several times to officers that he had shot Gallenberg, the complaint states. Gallenberg was transported to Waukesha Memorial Hospital where he was pronounced deceased at 4:47 a.m. Aug. 6.

“It bothers me that I shot Zach because he was my best friend, but I was threatened,” Osburn told police, according to the complaint.