Posted on 11/23/2004 11:17:04 AM PST by whodeani
Suspect says hunters provoked him
Vang says he was surrounded, called names and shot at before shootings
By JOHN DIEDRICH, LEE BERGQUIST and TOM HELD jdiedrich@journalsentinel.com Posted: Nov. 23, 2004
Hayward - The suspect arrested for shooting eight hunters, killing six of them, says he was surrounded by the group, called derogatory racial names and shot at before he opened fire, according to court records released today.
His account differs sharply from details released Monday by the Sheriff's Department and from the accounts from some of the victims, who describe an essentially unprovoked shooting rampage by Chai Soua Vang, a 36-year-old Hmong man from St. Paul, Minn.
Vang, a truck driver, is suspected in the slayings of six hunters and the wounding of two others, according to a probable cause determination signed by Judge Norman L. Yackel here this morning.
Vang is being held on $2.5 million cash bail.
Officials said the Wisconsin Attorney General's Office will prosecute the case, because of its scope and complexity.
Meanwhile, The two survivors continued to improve, officials said.
Terry Willers, the first hunter shot who was hit in the neck, was upgraded from serious to fair at St. Joseph's Hospital in Marshfield today.
Lauren Hesebeck, 48, was released from the hospital Monday night before 9 p.m. He was shot in the shoulder.
Theresa Hesebeck, also the sister of Denny Drew, who died Monday night, said the family was trying to regroup on Tuesday morning and that her husband was recovering at home.
"Your place is at home at a time like this," she said.
The couple have a blended family that includes seven children.
David Drew, a brother of Denny Drew, said Tuesday he was trying to come to grips with the death of his brother and close friends.
A prayer vigil is set for 7 tonight at the Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Haugen, where three of the victims lived.
Complete coverage of this story will appear online later today and in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel in the morning.
Very interesting. If Vang used the same gun both times, ballistics tests will catch him out on this other shooting.
Authorities looking at possible Vang connection to 2001 hunter slaying, detective says
Associated Press
November 24, 2004
MILWAUKEE -- Authorities are looking into whether the man suspected of killing six deer hunters in northern Wisconsin this week was involved in the unsolved slaying of another deer hunter three years ago, a detective told a newspaper.
``I can tell you we have been in contact with authorities from Sawyer County to address that,'' Clark County Sheriff's Department Detective Kerry Kirn told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on Tuesday.
Jim Southworth was shot to death Nov. 23, 2001, as he hunted on family land 10 miles east of Neillsville and Kirn said he had exchanged frequent calls this week with investigators in Sawyer County, where the six hunters were killed and two others wounded Sunday.
But ``it is premature to speculate if there is a connection'' between the two incidents, Kirn said.
Lauren HesebeckRenee JonesStar Tribune SouthKirn did not immediately return a call left early today by The Associated Press. Calls to the Sawyer County Sheriff's Department on the matter were referred to state Justice Department spokesman Brian Rieselman, who was not immediately available at his office early today.
Southworth was shot twice in the back, an autopsy found. Court record say several of those killed Sunday where shot in the back.
If the guy is telling the truth, the landowner had no right to shoot at him.
On the other hand, if the guy is lieing through his teeth, there are 6 dead bodies, and the "trespasser" issue is just a smokescreen thrown up by folks who have a different agenda than justice to pursue.
The man is now being investigated for an earlier killing under similar circumstances. Didn't any of you people up there ever get the idea that a single individual might well be responsible for the agitation with the Hmong when it comes to the deer stands?
you are still standing pat on that "trespasser" defense, and that simply doesn't cut it.
The land was posted. The perp was trespassing and was asked to leave. Those are now known facts. He had no legal right to hunt the land or be in the tree stand.
It's too bad the situation wasn't handled more amicably, but there is no justification for the perp killing six people and shooting at least one in the back.
If the guy is telling the truth, the landowner had no right to shoot at him.
I agree. (If the land owner did shoot first) (A fact not yet in evidence). But the perp was in violation of the law prior to any shots being fired.
On the other hand, if the guy is lieing through his teeth, there are 6 dead bodies, and the "trespasser" issue is just a smokescreen thrown up by folks who have a different agenda than justice to pursue.
The act of trespassing is in no was a "smoke screen". It gave rise to all the events which followed.
I do not know what other agenda you are suggesting. I want the perp tried for six counts of homicide and two counts of attempted homicide. Period.
Didn't any of you people up there
UP where? I'm in central Texas. I was only "up there" for college & haven't lived in WI since I completed my undergraduate degrees almost 20 years ago.
ever get the idea that a single individual might well be responsible for the agitation with the Hmong when it comes to the deer stands?
So what? Are you attempting to mitigate the actions of the perp? He who squeezed the trigger is solely responsible for his actions.
I hope you asked to be on Ladysmith's ping list. She done took it on, I think - LOL...........
As for me, I'm a native NW WI - moved over west - one state and further north.
Think of "Son of Sam", "Onion Fields Killer", "Green River Killer", etc.
I would imagine that in a few days we will hear from some professional profiler about how this guy fits a well-known pattern.
That means that his victims played absolutely no part in his particular fantasy ~ they were just there and he tried to kill them all.
We had problems around here last year with this guy John Muhammad and his little buddy riding around in a car shooting people. Folks went crazy trying to figure out the pattern. There was no pattern. People were being killed because they were there at the moment ~ no more reason than that.
I'm not interested in your rambling speculations. Please discontinue replying to me.
When you don't wish to have responses then you quit posting. It's that simple.
But Vang told Sawyer County investigators he began firing only after one of Hesebeck's hunting buddies, Terry Willers, shot at him with a rifle from about 100 feet away and missed.
Never shoot at a Hmong and miss.
They were some of our best allies in Vietnam.
On the other hand, Mat_Helm has it right.
Actually we know most of what happened. Search by title on this forum using the words "hunter" "criminal" and "complaint."
You can read for yourself the allegations, most of which are derived from the defendant's statement to police. He freely admits shooting seven of eight UNARMED people, some more than once. He admits changing position, reversing his vest from blaze orange to camo, and asking the first victim "aren't you dead yet?"
There is enough evidence from his own statement to convict him of seven 1st degree murders. The only difference between this psycho's statement and that of one of the survivors (I really do mean the only difference, read the complaint) is whether the first victim shot at the defendant first or returned fire.
Unless the defendant can get the counts severed, a smart, reasonable jury will likely not put too much credibility in the defendant's statement. But then who knows, I'd dismiss the count involving the first victim and just take the other seven to trial...and ask for six consecutive life sentences for this POS.
Look, as someone who lives in a community terrorized by a mass murderer who went on a continent wide spree barely more than a year ago, I think I have much more insight into this situation than do you.
BTW, many of your Hmong used to live around here until they moved to St. Paul. We even saw the "legendary Vang Pao" arrive in Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport years ago to the cheers of several thousand of his closest relatives ~ it was quite a sight.
Then there are the Thai folks who wonder in and out of my basement as well as the fellows from Vatcherin region in Cambodia who will stop by under one pretext or another to make a Thanksgiving Day visit.
I am so terribly isolated from Asian-Americans and mass murderers I could just cry.
Ballistics should be able to distinguish between Vang's rifle and any others that may have been involved. Note that the story you reference indicates he may have worked with companions in 2001.
I just think we should let a jury decide what happened. He looks guilty, but then again, we don't know all the facts. I want justice to be served, that's all.
This guy's background is remarkably similar to that of John Muhammad, the mass killer who terrorized the DC area just over a year ago. He even had his own firing range ~ his 40 acre hunting area in Minnesota, just like John's was in Oregon.
If he did a similar killing in Wisconsin in 2001 (as is now being alleged and investigated), he may well have done others. It will be quite interesting to see just how many similar incidents police around the country come up with.
I'm thinking it's possible this one guy accounts for a substantial percentage of all the "hunting incidents" involving an Asian-American ~ kind of like that Mexican guy who rode the rails and killed people, or the guy who nailed Versace ~ he was just about all of the "unsolved fashionable homosexual murder" cases ~ just one guy!
OK, but I'm still holding off for a jury to decide. I hope justice is served.
All comments we make on this are silly -- he may be speakign the truth or he may not be. We don't have enough facts to make a judgement call -- something folks here seem to have forgotten
Hmong are from S-E Asia, they are a minority group from Vietnam. They fought on our side during the Vietnam war and then were hounded out by the Vietnamese. They are generally Christians, converted by American Baptist missionaries in the early decades of the 20th century
Quite right. We should wait until this goes to trial and we know all the facts before we jump to conclusions
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