Sandra Wisniewski

Sandra Wisniewski was a 23-year-old woman from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, whose family remembered her as a loving person trapped in a violent relationship. For over four years, she had been with her boyfriend, 25-year-old Gregg Phillips. Her mother, Pam Landergott, later shared that Phillips had a history of abusing Sandra, had "tormented her quite a bit," and had once even held a gun to her head. Though her family urged her to leave the dangerous relationship, Sandra refused. "She loved him that much," her mother said. In the fall of 2004, the couple was temporarily living in a Comfort Suites hotel in Oak Creek, reportedly because Phillips was hiding from men over a money issue.

The situation reached a breaking point on the evening of November 4, 2004, after Phillips was confronted by the men he was trying to avoid. He furiously accused Sandra of betraying his location to them. The argument spiraled, and in the early hours of November 5, a frantic Sandra called her sister for help. "Sandy was screaming and yelling and crying, and she was like, 'Pick me up now!'" a cousin recalled. Her family raced to the hotel, but when they arrived within 35 minutes, the property was already surrounded by police squad cars.

Inside their third-floor room, around 2:30 a.m., the dispute had turned fatal. As Sandra attempted to flee, Phillips grabbed her, pushed her to the ground, and shot her to death. The violence then spilled out of the room. Clad in a bulletproof vest and armed with a submachine gun, Phillips stepped into the hotel hallway where guests were emerging from their rooms after hearing the commotion.

The first person he encountered was Anton Uebelhoer, a 43-year-old businessman from Regensburg, Germany, who was staying in an adjacent room. Phillips shot and killed him from less than five feet away. The rampage continued as Phillips wounded two other hotel guests. One man was shot in the hallway, and a woman was hit by a bullet that tore through her room door as she tried to slam it shut. Both survived and were transported to a hospital in stable condition.

After the shootings, Phillips forced a man from the Chicago area into his room, taking him hostage. He then placed a call to a local TV station, where an operator patched him through to the police. For approximately 30 minutes, negotiators spoke with Phillips. Oak Creek Police Chief Thomas Bauer stated that Phillips "acknowledged what he had done" during the call. He eventually agreed to release the hostage and surrender to the SWAT team that had converged on the hotel. Authorities noted he may have given himself up because he had run out of ammunition.

Gregg Phillips was arrested and held by the Oak Creek Police Department. Bail was set at $1 million. In April 2005, he was convicted by a jury on a host of charges, including two counts of first-degree intentional homicide for the murders of Sandra Wisniewski and Anton Uebelhoer. He was also found guilty of attempted first-degree intentional homicide, first-degree reckless injury, taking a hostage, and being a felon in possession of a firearm.

In June 2005, a circuit judge handed down Phillips's sentence. For the brutal killings of his girlfriend and an innocent bystander, he was ordered to serve two consecutive life sentences in prison without the possibility of parole. The case was officially closed, leaving the families of Sandra Wisniewski and Anton Uebelhoer to grieve the devastating and senseless loss of their loved ones.