Defendant Sentenced for 1st-Degree Murder of Victim
Buried in Backyard
DATE: May 20, 2016
CASE: William Olsem
PROSECUTOR: Deputy District Attorney Thomas Asker, Homicide Unit
The Honorable Patrick Marlette sentenced William Olsem to 26 years to life in prison. On April 4, 2016, a jury convicted Olsem of first-degree murder. They jury also found true that Olsem used a deadly weapon.
On May 1, 2013, a woman contacted law enforcement to report a murder she knew had been committed in 2012. She also stated the body was buried near the backyard of the murderer, William Olsem.
Follow up by law enforcement revealed the victim, Larry Lillard, had been reported missing a month earlier. The Sacramento Sheriff’s Department, with the help of the Sacramento County District Attorney’s Crime Lab, excavated the suspected grave in a field adjacent to Olsem’s property in Sacramento County. Mr. Lillard’s body was found in the grave. He had been hog-tied with four ligatures around his neck. The motive for the murder was Mr. Lillard’s $18,000 motor home and his monthly supplemental security income benefits, which was automatically deposited into Mr. Lillard’s bank account. Olsem sold the motor home and used the victim’s bank card after the murder.
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