RHINELANDER -- A 53-year-old Sugar Camp man has waived his right to a preliminary hearing on felony charges of homicide by negligent operation of a vehicle and hit and run resulting in death.
Jeffrey M. Liebscher appeared Wednesday before Judge Patrick O’Melia in Oneida County Circuit Court.
The judge set a Nov. 11 arraignment and denied a request by Liebscher’s attorney to allow the defendant to attend an upcoming banquet.
Liebscher is accused of hitting and killing 23-year-old Sean J. Holtslander, who was on his motorcycle on Highway 17 North at approximately 10:15 p.m. Aug. 28. Liebscher allegedly then got into his truck and fled the scene and didn’t contact authorities until hours later, according to the criminal complaint.
Sean’s mother, Dorothy Holtslander, of Eagle River, was at the hearing and says she wants people to know that her son, killed six days after his birthday, was not just a motorcyclist or a statistic. She urged people to go on “Justice for Sean Holtslander” Facebook page to learn more.
“I want them to see stories about him, pictures of him, because so far, for so long, he was just a motorcyclist or the victim. No, he was not. He was a brilliant young man. He just wrote a novel that I’m still trying to transcribe for him because he wrote it in longhand. And it’s wonderful. He was an accomplished musician. He was an artist. And if you had friend in Sean, you had a friend for life. He would do anything for anybody at any time.”
She added, “Sean was going to be asking his girlfriend to marry him the next week. That’s not going to happen. He was looking forward to having children. That’s not going to happen.”
Her son was looking forward to seeing the fall colors in the Northwoods. After the funeral, she went up in airplane and scattered his ashes over the landscape, still brilliant with fall color.
