Wirgau to be sentenced next week

ALPENA -- The two Alpena men implicated in the deaths of Brynn Bills and Abby Hill in 2021 will soon learn how much time they are going to spend in prison.

Josh Wirgau is scheduled to be in court on Thursday at 1:30 p.m. and Brad Srebnik will receive his sentence from Judge Alan Curtis on April 1 at 9 a.m.

Srebnik faces a mandatory life sentence, while Wirgau is staring at spending the next 15 to 30 years behind bars after cutting a deal with the state.

Prosecutors originally charged Josh Wirgau in the deaths of the two girls, but he reached a plea deal with prosecutors late last year, agreeing to plead guilty to accessory after the fact and disinterment and mutilation of a body in the death of Bills and involuntary manslaughter in the death of Hill. In exchange, charges of first-degree murder and felony firearm were dropped.

The plea deal was made in exchange for Wirgau's testimony against his friend, Brad Srebnik.

Srebnik was found guilty last week of two counts of premeditated murder, weapons charges, and disinterment and mutilation of a body and awaits his own sentencing. He faces life in prison but maintains his innocence to the allegations.

Srebnik was accused of strangling Brynn Bills and shooting Abby Hill in the back of the head.

The Michigan Attorney General's Office has overseen the cases against Wirgau and Srebnik and worked alongside Alpena County Prosecutor Cynthia Muszynski during the murder investigation and subsequent court proceedings.

After Wirgau's plea deal was reached in November, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said in a written statement the deal would bolster the case against Srebnik.

That proved to be true, as Wirgau's testimony and recollections of the events before, during, and after the girls' disappearance and the discovery of their bodies may have helped convict Srebnik.

It was Wirgau who told police he saw Srebnik holding the gun that killed Hill and took the investigators to where her body was. It was Wirgau who took police to the scene of Hill's murder and where her remains were.

He also testified that Srebnik admitted to him that he strangled Bills to death and was the one who orchestrated the plan to dispose of her body.

"The defendant pled guilty to significant charges in the tragic murders of these two young women, and with his cooperation, the State's case against the remaining defendant grows stronger," said Nessel. "I'm grateful for the cooperative investigation and prosecution of these crimes between the Michigan State Police, my department's prosecutors, and prosecutor Muszynski and her office. We continue to work toward justice for these victims and this community."

The saga of the killings began in August of 2021 when Bills was reported missing and not heard from despite celebrating her 18th birthday. Weeks later, her remains were found buried behind Wirgau's home on Naylor Road. Wirgau admitted he operated an excavator rented by Srebnik to dispose of the body.

Not long after, police began a search for Hill, whose remains were found behind the Holcim Alpena plant in a heavily wooded area. After Sreebnik's verdict was given to the court, Nessel issued a statement saying she hopes the jury's verdict and the prison time both men would receive would help the family, friends, and everyone else in Alpena overcome their grief for the tragic death of the two women.

"The murders of Brynn Bills and Abby Hill shocked the community, and it is our hope that these convictions may bring some peace and healing," Nessel said.