Ken Kratz

Career

Kratz worked as an assistant city attorney in La Crosse, Wisconsin from 1985 to 1987, then as an assistant district attorney in La Crosse County from 1987 to 1992, focusing on drug-related and child sex abuse cases. In 1992, Wisconsin Governor Tommy Thompson appointed him district attorney of Calumet County, replacing Donald Poppy; Kratz was the only applicant. He served as president of the Wisconsin District Attorneys Association in 1996 and chaired the Wisconsin Victim Rights Council in 1993, later chairing its successor, the Wisconsin Crime Victims Rights Board, from 1998 to 2010.

In 1997, he prosecuted a child abuse case where parents allegedly locked their daughter in a cage; the mother pleaded guilty. Kratz explored a run for the Republican nomination in Wisconsin's 6th congressional district in 2008. He was appointed special prosecutor for the Steven Avery murder case in Manitowoc County, after that county recused itself due to a lawsuit by Avery.

Kratz also served as co-counsel against Brendan Dassey and held press conferences against both defendants. Both were convicted in 2007; Avery received life without parole, and Dassey, then 17, was sentenced to life imprisonment with parole eligibility at age 56. Dassey's conviction was provisionally overturned in August 2016, but later reinstated on appeal.

2009 sexual harassment scandal

In 2009, Ken Kratz was handling a domestic violence prosecution involving a 26-year-old college student who also worked as a part-time preschool teacher. After she met with him in his office, he sent her thirty sexually aggressive text messages over three days. She told police she felt pressured to have sex with him, worried that if she refused, he would drop the case against her former boyfriend. Kratz’s messages included asking if she liked secret contact with an older, married elected district attorney, and telling her he wanted her to be so hot and treat him so well that she would be the woman, not just the other woman.

He also wrote that he had a six-figure career and a $350,000 house, and that she might be a tall, young, hot nymph, but he was the prize. Kratz never denied sending those texts. The complaint was sent to the state’s Division of Criminal Investigation, and during that probe, about a dozen additional women came forward with accusations of harassment and intimidation.

One said Kratz invited her to a date at a murdered woman’s autopsy, but only if she would pose as his girlfriend and wear high heels and a skirt. Another said that after meeting in his office, he texted her to ask how she would impress him in bed. At the time, Kratz was the chairman of the Wisconsin Crime Victims’ Rights Board, a quasi-judicial body he had helped create that can discipline officials who mistreat crime victims. During the disciplinary hearing, Kratz said he abused prescription drugs Ambien, Vicodin, and Xanax, and was being treated for sexual addiction and narcissistic personality disorder.

In popular culture

Ken Kratz appeared in the Netflix documentary series Making a Murderer, which covered his involvement in the Steven Avery case. He refused to take part in interviews for the show and later accused its creators of ignoring important evidence. Following the series’ release, Kratz faced death threats and a wave of negative reviews on his Yelp page. In 2017, he wrote a book titled Avery: The Case Against Steven Avery and What Making a Murderer Gets Wrong to challenge the documentary’s claims.

Did You Know?

• Kratz sent a domestic violence victim 30 sexually coercive text messages over three days, including one where he called himself 'the prize' and described his $350,000 house and six-figure career.
• Kratz's law license was suspended for four months by the Wisconsin Supreme Court in June 2014, which called his actions 'sophomoric' and 'appalling.'