Police records describe a bloody scene, a long argument and a knife later identified as a pastry chef knife.
GREEN BAY, Wis. — The homicide case against Tonia Piontek rests on a set of stark details: a kitchen floor, a 911 call, a long argument heard by a neighbor and a knife with a 7.87-inch blade.
Piontek, 46, is accused of killing her 41-year-old fiancé on April 13, 2025, at the couple’s Smith Street home in Green Bay. She is charged in Brown County with first-degree intentional homicide, with added allegations tied to domestic abuse and use of a dangerous weapon. She has pleaded not guilty. More than a year after the stabbing, lawyers are still discussing a possible plea while the defense waits for a domestic violence expert’s report.
The physical evidence described in police records begins inside the home. Officers arrived after Piontek called 911 and said she had stabbed the man. Police found him in the kitchen area, lying in blood. The complaint said a knife was found in his neck, though the autopsy identified the fatal injury as a stab wound to the chest. Local reports said the knife’s blade measured 7.87 inches. Piontek later described the weapon as a pastry chef knife, a detail that has become one of the most widely reported facts in the case.
The call to dispatch provided the first account of what Piontek said happened before officers entered the home. She told the dispatcher the couple had been drinking and arguing. She said the man came at her. “I just stabbed my boyfriend, I don’t think he’s okay,” she told 911, according to the complaint. She also said she often kept a knife nearby for protection and did not know what else to do. Those statements may become evidence for both sides if the case goes to trial.
A neighbor supplied a second view of the night. He told police the couple had been arguing for about an hour and a half before the emergency call. He also reported hearing a door slam and someone stomping around inside the home. The neighbor said he often heard the two argue and had called 911 on them before. His account places the stabbing after a prolonged disturbance, but it does not identify the exact movements of either person in the final moments before the knife entered the victim’s body.
Police also recorded what they saw when they met Piontek. She rolled up her sleeves and showed bruising on her forearms, according to the complaint. She called the bruises “just normal for me.” Soon after, she said she had friends who were lawyers and would not make further comments until she had an attorney. That created a limited but important set of statements for investigators: the emergency call, the comments about the knife and fear, the display of bruises and then no further interview without counsel.
The case has followed a slow path through Brown County Circuit Court. Piontek was taken into custody at the scene. At an early appearance, a judge set her cash bond at $1 million. She later entered a not-guilty plea in July 2025. A status conference in October 2025 led to a December plea date, but the case did not end there. By April 2026, defense attorney Bradley Schraven said plea discussions were continuing and that he still needed to discuss an offer with Piontek.
The unfinished domestic violence expert report is the main reason the case has remained open without a trial date. Schraven said at an earlier hearing that he wanted expert testimony before any plea agreement was reached. That report could speak to the relationship, the bruising, Piontek’s claim that she feared the victim and her statement that she kept a knife nearby for protection. Prosecutors have not reduced the publicly reported charge, and no final plea has been announced.
The victim’s public identification remains limited. The criminal complaint did not name him, and Green Bay police have described him as a 41-year-old man from Green Bay. His death, however, is the central fact behind the charge. The autopsy finding that he died from a chest stab wound may be used by prosecutors to explain the force and location of the injury. The defense may focus instead on the circumstances leading up to the wound, including the alleged fight and Piontek’s statements about fear.
The evidence record also contains gaps. Public reports do not say whether blood-pattern analysis, fingerprints or DNA testing will play a major role. They do not say whether prior police calls to the home produced reports that will be admitted in court. They do not show whether the victim had injuries beyond the fatal wound or whether Piontek’s bruises were photographed and medically assessed. Those missing details may be addressed through future motions, expert reports or testimony if the case advances toward trial.
Judge Marc Hammer set the next hearing for Aug. 17. By then, lawyers may have more information about the domestic violence expert’s report and the plea offer. Without an agreement, the case could move into a more formal trial track, including witness lists, evidentiary motions and a trial date. With an agreement, the court would have to review any plea terms and decide whether to accept them.
Piontek remains in the Brown County Jail on a $1 million cash bond. The homicide charge is pending, no trial date has been set, and the next milestone is the Aug. 17 hearing in Brown County Circuit Court.
Author note: Last updated May 4, 2026.