Former Waukon area man pleads no contest to reckless homicide in case of missing Prairie du Chien, WI woman

In Crawford County, WI Circuit Court Tuesday, January 24, Michael John Burroughs of Prairie du Chien, WI, age 27, pled no contest to, and was found guilty of, First Degree Reckless Homicide, a Class B felony, in the 2006 disappearance of Shannon Fischer, age 23 at the time she went missing.
Burroughs, a 2003 graduate of Waukon High School, had walked into the Crawford County Law Enforcement Center in Prairie du Chien, WI October 10, 2010 and confessed to killing Fischer, his girlfriend, in December of 2006. In his confession, Burroughs said he had choked Fischer to death during an argument over missing methamphetamine, then kept her body in a closet in his apartment for several days before dumping the body into a dumpster behind his apartment building. Fischer’s body has still not been recovered, but the confession ended a missing person investigation that had lasted nearly four years.
As part of the January 24 plea agreement, Crawford County District Attorney Tim Baxter recommended a sentence for Burroughs of 15 years in prison followed by 20 years of extended supervision. The court, unbound by the plea agreement, could sentence Burroughs to up to 60 years in prison at a sentencing hearing scheduled for April 3 in Crawford County Circuit Court. A pre-sentence investigation will take place prior to that sentencing hearing date.
Burroughs had been scheduled to go to jury trial February 14 on charges of First Degree Reckless Homicide and Hiding a Corpse. The latter of those two charges was dismissed as part of the plea agreement. Burroughs had initially been declared mentally incompetent to stand trial following his 2010 confession but had received treatment in early 2011 and has since been found to be competent.