Eau Claire, WI: Eau Claire man who killed wife, daughter expected to be released

By Dan Holtz
Eau Clire Leader-Telegram

Updated: 03/17/2011 09:22:22 AM CDT

An Eau Claire man who killed his wife and daughter
in 1998 likely will be granted a conditional release
from the Mendota Mental Health Institute in Madison
for a second time.

A psychologist examined Cher Cha Moua recently
and determined a conditional release would be
appropriate. Eau Claire County Judge Benjamin
Proctor on Wednesday directed the state Department
of Health Services and the county Human Services
Department to develop a conditional release plan for
Moua, 54.

Proctor will approve or deny the release plan at a
May 12 hearing.

The psychologist's report and Mendota officials say
details of the plan should be consistent with the
plan approved by Proctor the first time Moua was
granted a conditional release.

At that time, Moua lived in a group home with 24-
hour supervision and was required to find part-time
employment, seek vocational training, participate in
family and personal therapy, have regular visits with
a physician and psychiatrist, and take all prescribed
medications.

Proctor in July 2009 revoked Moua's first
conditional release and placed him back into the
custody of the state. State officials sought the
revocation after Moua ingested an entire bottle of
sleep aid in July 2009 at an Altoona supportive
living center and then attempted to stab himself in
the stomach, chest and neck — drawing blood.

Proctor approved Moua's first conditional release
plan in December 2006. Moua — formerly known as
Lo Pao Moua — had

been at Mendota since Proctor ordered his
commitment in May 1998 after finding him not
legally responsible for killing his family members,
based on reports by five psychiatrists.

State law requires a petition for conditional release
must be granted if a judge determines the individual
under a mental commitment no longer is at risk of
causing bodily harm to himself or others.

Moua pleaded guilty to the Feb. 5, 1998, shooting
deaths of his wife, Va T. Moua, 37, and his
daughter, Goshoua Moua, 18, and the attempted
homicide of his daughter's former boyfriend, Teng
Xiong.