Post by Sher on Aug 8, 2005 15:27:45 GMT -5
MOUNTAIN, Wis. - A 41-year-old man has been arrested in the fatal shootings of his estranged wife and her parents in a camper in this northeastern Wisconsin community of about 900 people, authorities said.
The 37-year-old woman and her parents, a 63-year-old man and 60-year-old woman from Green Bay, were killed late Saturday in the camper on property east of Mountain that the family has owned for many years, Oconto County Sheriff Michael Jansen said.
Deputies went to the scene along County Trunk W about 45 miles northwest of Green Bay after getting a 911 call about some shots fired from one of the victims, Jansen said.
"There had been shots fired and were being fired while the 911 call was being placed," he said. "They knew there was a problem when they called. There was a confrontation, but what that was about is speculation."
The sheriff said he did not know if there was a shootout, but "it appears there might have been two weapons fired that evening," he said. He said police were still searching for one weapons, but have recovered one gun, which was from the victims' camper.
"I believe it was the murder weapon," Jansen said.
The 41-year-old Green Bay man who was the younger victim's estranged husband was arrested within hours a short distance away on a dead end road after authorities confronted him outside his vehicle, Jansen said.
The sheriff declined to comment on a motive, but said divorce proceedings had been started between the 37-year-old victim and the 41-year-old man in custody.
The victims apparently tried to fight back, Jansen said.
Jansen said the district attorney could file a criminal complaint as early as Monday afternoon, and the suspect would then appear in court for a bail hearing. He declined to say whether the suspect was cooperating with investigators.
Oconto County coroner Laurie Parisey said the bodies of the victims were taken to St. Vincent Hospital in Green Bay, and autopsies were planned Monday. The sheriff declined to release the victims' names early Monday.
Gene Wendt, who lives across the street from the house, said he was at home during the slayings but did not hear anything.
"I was upstairs sleeping with the fan on," he said, adding: "They were nice people. They come up on the weekends."
Don Smith, who lives next to the property where the slayings took place, said he heard another neighbor's dog barking a lot Saturday night.
"That's unusual. But maybe the dog sensed something," he said.
The slayings are the second triple homicide in the area around Mountain in the last three years. Three people were killed in 2002 by a man who then shot himself on the nearby Menominee Indian reservation.
The 37-year-old woman and her parents, a 63-year-old man and 60-year-old woman from Green Bay, were killed late Saturday in the camper on property east of Mountain that the family has owned for many years, Oconto County Sheriff Michael Jansen said.
Deputies went to the scene along County Trunk W about 45 miles northwest of Green Bay after getting a 911 call about some shots fired from one of the victims, Jansen said.
"There had been shots fired and were being fired while the 911 call was being placed," he said. "They knew there was a problem when they called. There was a confrontation, but what that was about is speculation."
The sheriff said he did not know if there was a shootout, but "it appears there might have been two weapons fired that evening," he said. He said police were still searching for one weapons, but have recovered one gun, which was from the victims' camper.
"I believe it was the murder weapon," Jansen said.
The 41-year-old Green Bay man who was the younger victim's estranged husband was arrested within hours a short distance away on a dead end road after authorities confronted him outside his vehicle, Jansen said.
The sheriff declined to comment on a motive, but said divorce proceedings had been started between the 37-year-old victim and the 41-year-old man in custody.
The victims apparently tried to fight back, Jansen said.
Jansen said the district attorney could file a criminal complaint as early as Monday afternoon, and the suspect would then appear in court for a bail hearing. He declined to say whether the suspect was cooperating with investigators.
Oconto County coroner Laurie Parisey said the bodies of the victims were taken to St. Vincent Hospital in Green Bay, and autopsies were planned Monday. The sheriff declined to release the victims' names early Monday.
Gene Wendt, who lives across the street from the house, said he was at home during the slayings but did not hear anything.
"I was upstairs sleeping with the fan on," he said, adding: "They were nice people. They come up on the weekends."
Don Smith, who lives next to the property where the slayings took place, said he heard another neighbor's dog barking a lot Saturday night.
"That's unusual. But maybe the dog sensed something," he said.
The slayings are the second triple homicide in the area around Mountain in the last three years. Three people were killed in 2002 by a man who then shot himself on the nearby Menominee Indian reservation.