Mark Bucki will be 84 years old before he is eligible to petition for supervised release, Lincoln County Judge Jay Tlusty ruled Thursday afternoon.
Bucki, 50, was convicted by a jury in April of First Degree Intentional Homicide in the death of his wife, Anita. The charge carries a mandatory life sentence, which in Wisconsin equals 20 years of incarceration. Tlusty ruled that Bucki will not be eligible to petition for extended supervision until May 13, 2048, which is 35 years minus 417 days of credit for time already served in Lincoln County Jail. Bucki was arrested for his wife’s murder on May 13, 2013.
At the sentencing hearing, Bucki maintained his innocence. He addressed the court, saying, “If I could say I’m sorry for doing this I would because it would put a lot of people to rest, but I can’t because I am innocent. Anita would expect me to fight for the truth and that’s what I’m doing here. I didn’t do this.”
Mark reported his wife missing from their town of Corning home on April 26, 2013. Her body was found in Taylor County May 13. She had been strangled, stabbed seven times and her body left in a swamp along Cty. C, about 20 miles from the Bucki home.
Anita’s sister, Cheryl Kruse, gave her victim impact statement.
“My sister was sentenced to death without a hearing or a jury,” she said. “Her only crime was loving Mark.”
She said she wanted to hate Mark for killing her sister, but mostly pities him.
“He wanted it all without waiting and because of this he ruined many lives, including his own,” she said.
Clint Bucki, Mark and Anita’s son, spoke in support of his father. He asked that Mark receive the minimum sentence so he could be part of his and his daughter’s lives.
“I know that my dad is innocent,” he said. “I know he would never hurt or want any harm to come to (Anita).”
District Attorney Don Dunphy said Bucki was motivated to kill his wife by “greed and lust.” Mark had a new girlfriend and wanted to divorce Anita, though she was hoping to reconcile their marriage. By killing her, Mark would not have to split their property or an expected workers’ compensation claim, and could collect her life insurance, Dunphy said.
Bucki was also convicted of strangulation/suffocation and hiding a corpse. On those counts he was sentenced to concurrent prison terms totaling two years of confinement.
The defense has already filed a notice of intent to seek post-conviction relief.