Welcome to another Wednesday where I have waiting for you a delightful case of murder, madness, and mayhem. This week, we have a case that is made for the movies, or at least Discovery ID.
Troy Bierdz was the miracle child that was destined to keep his parents’ marriage together. But unfortunately, it didn’t. Troy was the youngest child of his parents, Phyllis and Thomas Bierdz Sr. He had an older sister Kim, and two older brothers, Thomas Jr. and Craig. Phyllis was a tiny woman, 5 feet tall and barely 100 pounds. Phyllis and Thomas would divorce when Troy was 7.
During childhood Troy was a hyper child and Phyllis would take him to doctors to figure out why, but all they told her was that he needed more attention. Whether to gain attention or not, Troy destroyed Thom’s toys when he would build with Lego or Lincoln Logs. Giving Troy as much as she possibly could, Phyllis enrolled him into karate thinking the discipline would be good for him. Troy loved karate, and eventually became a black belt, but it didn’t solve any of the behavioral issues.
Phyllis attempted to continue to help her son, that is what a mother does. She took Troy to over 40 doctors, but they all seemed to doubt his symptoms. Many felt he was only faking the symptoms of schizophrenia, and only a few believed he was schizophrenic.
As he got older, Troy got into more and more trouble, he had stolen her car several times and was chased by police. At one time he cut began to himself with a knife while locked in his mother’s car. He was sent to various mental health hospitals and either escaped or would continue to display aggression.
Finally at the age of 17, Troy was sent to the Ethan Allen School for Boys in Wales, WI. He would tell social workers that he wanted to kill his brother Thom, and he said he had wanted to experience the thrill of killing someone.
At one time when Phyllis’ boyfriend interfered in an argument, Troy who was 6’8″ tall, beat him up, and was charged with battery. He didn’t show remorse for what he had done either. When his older brother Thom moved to California to pursue his dream of acting, Troy had been invited to come stay with him, as either a way to connect with his brother, or to help his mother out with his brother.
Troy stated he would kill Thom which prompted his eviction from the house. Eventually Troy would go back to Wisconsin after Thom kicked him out. After returning to Wisconsin, Troy continued to get into trouble and stole his mom’s car to drive to Los Angeles so he could hurt Thom, but he hit a tree in Illinois and was then put into a juvenile center.
On July 14, 1989, Phyllis called Troy and said she wanted to see him. So, Troy’s cousin dropped him off at the house. Later that day Troy’s cousin and grandfather arrived at the house to do some work for Phyllis and instead they found her dead in the kitchen. Phyllis had been beaten to death with a baseball bat, she had been hit so many times that her head was in pieces.
Troy was finally arrested in Texas about a week later. He had stolen another car and when the police fingerprinted him, they learned he was wanted in Wisconsin, and he was extradited. A month after returning to Kenosha, Troy asked a jailer for a piece of paper. “I, Troy Alan Bierdz, would simply like to walk into the court, plead guilty, and be sentenced on that same day,” he wrote in his confession.
In November 1989, he was sentenced to life in prison. He will be eligible for parole at age 69. Even now, thirty years after the crime, Troy has never given an explanation for why he killed his mother.
Stay weird Wisconsin!
Amateur Connoisseur 