Chrystul Kizer walks off after her sentencing hearing (Jillian Craig, Kenosha News).
A Wisconsin woman who admitted to killing her longtime alleged rapist and then setting his house ablaze was sentenced to spend over a decade in state prison on Monday morning.
Chrystul Kizer, 23, became an online cause célèbre after she was charged with murder in the first degree, arson, theft, and other charges related to the death of Randall Phillip Volar, III, 34, in 2018.
The legal process has been long and winding since news of her controversial case spread over the following months and years — as victims rights advocates rallied, spoke and raised funds on her behalf — but came to a conclusion of sorts this week. Kenosha County Circuit Court Judge David P. Wilk, in a courtroom intentionally devoid of video cameras, meted out a combined 16-year sentence of 11 years behind bars to be followed by five years of extended supervision.
In May, the since-condemned woman pleaded guilty to one count of reckless homicide in the second degree.
The plea deal ultimately secured a sentence less than half the statutory maximum of 25 years in state prison for the admitted crime — and an outcome decidedly more lenient than a potential life sentence had she been found guilty of murder during a trial.
For years, however, Kizer’s defense lawyers looked like they were prepared to give jurors a highly-specific and muscular self-defense argument — an affirmative defense buoyed by the woman’s allegedly torturous treatment at the hands of the man she killed.
Kizer was 16 when Volar allegedly began sexually abusing her and recording his acts on film as part of his history of producing child sexual abuse material — along with forcing her to work as an unwilling prostitute for other men, often multiple times per day.
When she was 17, Kizer killed Volar by shooting him twice in the head. After that, she set his body on fire and fled in his car. The woman was just one of numerous underage Black victims police believe the wealthy, white pedophile had been abusing for some time.
Law enforcement long had Volar in their sights. At the time of his death, he faced counts of child enticement, using a computer to facilitate a child sex crime and second-degree sexual assault of a child.
Kizer was just one of numerous underage Black victims that police believe the wealthy, white alleged pedophile was abusing.
When he was arrested for those offenses, investigators said they found “hundreds” of videos featuring child sexual abuse material and more than 20 “home videos” of Volar sexually abusing Black children.
In July 2022, the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled that Kizer could rely on a law that gives victims of human trafficking or child sex trafficking “an affirmative defense for any offense committed as a direct result” of said trafficking “without regard to whether anyone was prosecuted or convicted” for the underlying sex crime or crimes.
The law, in other words, allows for a victim who has been trafficked to be acquitted of any charges related to their trafficking.
While out on pretrial release, Kizer’s case — and her life in general — took some turns for the worse late last year and earlier this year.
In February, she was arrested in Louisiana by federal authorities on a bail-jumping warrant out of Kenosha County. The prior month, while out on bail and awaiting trial, Kizer was charged with one count of disorderly conduct in Milwaukee County and four counts of bail jumping in Kenosha County — one of which was because she allegedly changed her address without notifying the court, according to a motion to increase bail.
Wanted for nearly two weeks, Kizer was eventually found by U.S. Marshals in Lafayette Parish — with the man who she said tried to rape her during a domestic disturbance call.
On Jan. 7, Kizer told Milwaukee police she had just learned the man she was staying with was a registered sex offender and accused him of lying. A series of arguments allegedly ensued, during which officers struggled to keep Kizer and the man away from one another. Police also say that Kizer repeatedly threatened the man with violence and “continued to yell and act belligerently.”
Facing additional felony charges, Kizer was extradited back to the Badger State where she entered into plea negotiations that sealed her fate in the Volar case. The charges related to the domestic violence call are not part of the homicide case and Kenosha County prosecutors have given no indication they intend to dismiss those charges.
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