Christopher Gish Gets Maximum Sentence For July Homicide

Christopher Randolph Gish, 38, had a lot of issues in his past.

Gish used cocaine, marijuana and bought pain killers off the street so he could keep working his job as a mover and other occupations. He also had some criminal convictions from when he was a juvenile and a younger adult. He was diagnosed with bipolar disorder as an adult.

A little more than nine years ago, Gish met Margaret “Maggie” Litwicki and the two of them had a relationship and had two children together, seemingly stemming some of Gish's habitual criminal behavior.

But in July, Gish put his two children to bed, walked upstairs and went into what he called a “blind rage.” He stabbed Litwicki numerous times inside their home in the 4400 block of West Morgan Avenue and killed her.

Gish will most likely spend the rest of his life in prison after Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge Jeffrey Wagner sentenced him to 40 years in prison and 20 years extended supervision for the crime.

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Gish faced life in prison under the original charge of first-degree intentional homicide, but he pleaded guilty to first-degree reckless homicide as part of a deal with prosecutors in order to forgo a trial.

Gish hung his head as Wagner read the sentence, which is the maximum allowed under the law.

“Frankly, I think Mr. Gish got his break when his charges were amended to first-degree reckless homicide,” prosecutor Kevin Shomin said.

Family makes tearful pleas

Litwicki’s mother and aunt both gave tearful pleas to Wagner asking him to give Gish the maximum sentence under the law because Margaret was beloved by many and Gish’s crime now left their children without parents.

Litwicki’s ex-husband Jason Litwicki and her daughter Kirsten Litwicki also addressed the court, pleading for a maximum sentence in the case.

Jason Litwicki said with so much talk of domestic violence in the news, Gish could be made an example of for his crime.

Gish cried as he addressed the court, saying he was sorry for what had happened and will have to live with it for the rest of his life.

“If I could change what happened I would without one doubt in my mind,” he said.

Gish: 'I couldn't take it'

In July, two Greenfield police officers went to Litwicki’s address after her car had been found by the Oak Creek Police Department, abandoned and apparently in a crash.

The officers found Litwicki dead in an upstairs bedroom. The medical examiner said Litwicki likely died as a result of a stab wound to the chest and that she had suffered numerous other stab wounds to the neck, head and extremities.

Gish, meanwhile, was found near the 128th Air Refueling Wing, 1919 E. Grange Ave. When questioned by a Greenfield police detective, Gish initially said he didn’t remember anything about what happened, but later admitted he was angry with Litwicki when she said she was going to take the couple’s two children and he’d never see them again.

He then told police that if he could not have the kids, nobody was going to. At one point he told police, “You know what, I don’t feel bad that I did it. I honestly don’t for some (expletive) oddball reason dude, I couldn’t take it.”