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Frances E. Rittmann was sentenced to 45 years in prison on September 11, 2024, after being convicted of first-degree reckless homicide and arson in the death of her ex-boyfriend, Daniel R. Gilmartin, in Montello, Wisconsin.

Rittmann and Gilmartin, 43, both lived in Montello, a town in Marquette County. On Saturday, April 20, 2019, a 911 call just before 2:15 p.m. reported a house fire on Cass Street. Crews found the home fully engulfed. The Montello Fire Department responded, assisted by the Oxford and Princeton departments. Deputies found a severely burned, unrecognizable body inside. Medical examiners were analyzing DNA evidence to identify it; the man who died was identified as Gilmartin. The Marquette County Sheriff's Office, the county coroner, the Wisconsin Department of Justice and fire marshals investigated the cause.

The Marquette County Sheriff's Office arrested Rittmann, then 42, on Thursday, April 25, 2019. Sheriff Joseph Konrath said no other details would be released until charges were filed. On April 29, 2019, she was charged with first-degree intentional homicide and two counts of arson, one for the April 20 fire and another for a fire she was suspected of setting on April 1. Bond was set at $250,000 cash on April 30, 2019.

According to the criminal complaint, a detective spoke on April 20 with a friend who had received two calls from Gilmartin that day. Gilmartin told the friend that Rittmann had been at his home and had tried to set a couch in his garage on fire. He asked the friend to check on him later.

In her police interview, Rittmann admitted setting two fires at the home, according to accounts of the complaint. She said the first involved a couch in the detached garage sometime in April. For the second, she said she entered Gilmartin's home, heard him snoring and set a fire intended to kill both herself and him. She said she changed her mind about dying, left and did not return or seek help. Security video showed her entering the Dollar General in Montello at 1:44 p.m. and leaving at 2:20 p.m.

Trial was scheduled to begin Monday, June 3, 2024. That day, Rittmann, then 47, entered no contest pleas in Marquette County Court to amended charges of first-degree reckless homicide and arson of a building without the owner's consent. Prosecutors reduced the homicide charge and dropped the second arson count. The court accepted the pleas and found her guilty.

Marquette County Judge Mark Slate imposed the sentence on Wednesday, September 11, 2024, saying Rittmann showed a clear pattern of blaming others for her actions. Prosecutors presented Google searches from her phone about kinds of accelerants and how investigators can trace where a fire started. They also said she had searched before the fire for spells to get Gilmartin back after he cut off contact. A victim witness coordinator read a statement from Gilmartin's mother, who said he had a huge heart. Rittmann told the court she was sorry that this happened and said what had been said about her was out of context and not true.

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Part 2 of 3 of the recording described above.

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Part 3 of 3 of the recording described above.