MANITOWOC COUNTY (NBC 26) — Friday was day five of the trial of Timothy Hauschultz, the man accused of child abuse and neglect in connection to the death of his 7-year-old great nephew, Ethan Hauschultz. On day five, the boy's older sister and medical experts shared their testimonies.
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The medical examiner determined that Ethan died of hypothermia, with blunt force injuries listed as a contributing factor. His body temperature was 76 degrees when he arrived at the hospital.
Ethan's older sister also testified Friday morning. Because she is a minor, we were unable to record her testimony, and the court instructed us not to use her name.
She testified that if the children got in trouble, they either had to carry wood or eat porridge at the table while standing. She said Timothy would watch from inside the house and tell them to keep going when the wood was dropped.
According to her testimony, Timothy told his son, Damian Hauschultz, that he needed to make sure the boys carried wood that day.
"It wasn't your regular piece of wood, it was a log," she testified. "You were not to drop the piece of wood."
She testified that she watched Damian throw Ethan's twin brother into a puddle, then take Ethan's jacket off and hit him when the boys kept dropping the wood. She said the puddle was so deep water got into her winter boots, which were above her ankle. She added that Ethan dropped to his knees, and Damian later called Timothy asking him to come home because something was wrong. She said Ethan was taken inside and given a bath before they went to the hospital.
Under questioning from the defense, which called back to a forensic interview where she claimed she felt safe around Damian, she responded that at the time she didn't know what being safe meant because she hadn't been in a home for so long thinking she was safe.
The Milwaukee County chief medical examiner, Wieslawa Tlomak, described bruises and abrasions across Ethan's face, head, arms, legs and abdomen, along with bleeding near his brain and right kidney and a rib fracture.
"Ethan had multiple injuries on his body," Tlomak said. "I determined that the cause of death was hypothermia due to environmental exposure and I included other significant conditions, blunt force injuries of the head chest and abdomen."
Child abuse pediatrician Dr. Hillary Petska testified that the forced wood carrying was abusive discipline, and that Ethan also experienced psychological maltreatment and medical neglect. She said she would consider it abusive discipline, stating it is forced exercise used to punish. Petska added that if Ethan were to fall when carrying the logs, he could have sustained injuries that way as well.
Under cross-examination, the defense questioned whether the injuries could have resulted from Damian's actions during the incident, not just from carrying wood.
"These injuries you'd agree are consistent with what Damian said he did to Ethan?" defense attorney Donna Kuchler asked.
"Yes," Petska answered.
The trial will continue next week, with closing statements expected after further testimony.
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