Man charged with homicide, arson in Polk County sentenced

POLK COUNTY, Wis. (WEAU) - A man charged with homicide and arson in Polk County is sentenced.

45-year-old Joseph Hadro, who is not known to have a permanent address, pleaded guilty to 1st-degree reckless homicide and arson of a building as a party to a crime in Polk County Circuit Court in Oct. 2022.

Jan. 27, 2023 court records show Hadro is sentenced for count two -1st degree reckless homicide- 20 years initial confinement and five years extended supervision. For count three -arson- Hadro is sentenced to 10 years initial confinement and five years extended supervision, consecutive to count two.

Hadro was arrested in Minn. as a suspect in the death of 63-year-old Scott Zitzow of Stacy, Minn., who was found dead after a fire in a trailer home in Osceola on March 9, 2022.

According to the criminal complaint filed with the charges, Zitzow was found dead in the shower of the home with several bruises on his face. An autopsy determined that Zitzow died of blunt force trauma to the head. A person of interest in the case told investigators that Hadro was seen wiping blood off of a hammer inside the trailer before leaving the scene. According to a release, Osceola Police and the Polk County Sheriff’s Office said that Zitzow was found dead inside the trailer after crews from the Osceola Fire Department put out the fire on the 200 block of Seminole Avenue.