William Patrick Olsem booking photo
SACRAMENTO — A Rio Linda man who killed a 69-year-old man and buried him in 2013 has been convicted this week.
A Sacramento County Jury found William Patrick Olsem (also known as Olsen) guilty of first-degree murder for the death of Larry Edward Lillard of Wheatland. Olsen will be sentenced on May 20, 2016, before Sacramento Superior Court Judge Patrick Marlette.
It was back on May 1, 2013, that an unidentified woman called police to report a murder she said had been committed in 2012 and that the body had been buried near Olsem’s backyard.
This tip led investigators to search a residence on the 7500 block of 34th Street in Rio Linda.
Search dogs led investigators to a grave where Lillard’s body was found. When it was excavated, the body had been found to be hog-tied with four ligatures around the neck. It also appeared that the victim had been dead for several months judging by the condition the body was in. This timeline coincided with a report that Lillard had been missing from Wheatland for a number of months.
Detectives were able to ascertain that Olsem and Lillard had known each other for many years and that the motive for the murder was the elderly man’s motorhome—valued at $18,000—and his monthly Supplemental Security Income benefits.
Investigators found that following the murder, Olsem sold the motorhome and used the victim’s bank card to access the SSI income.
