Posted on 11/24/2004 7:45:29 AM PST by whodeani
Homicide connection explored Sunday's shooting has similarities to a 2001 killing 80 miles away
By JOHN DIEDRICH jdiedrich@journalsentinel.com Posted: Nov. 23, 2004
Law enforcement agencies are investigating if the man suspected of killing six deer hunters and injuring two others was involved in the unsolved slaying of a deer hunter three years ago in a nearby Wisconsin county, a detective said Tuesday.
Clark County Sheriff's Department Detective Kerry Kirn said he has exchanged frequent calls with investigators in Sawyer County since Monday morning.
"I can tell you we have been in contact with authorities from Sawyer County to address that," Kirn said. "It is premature to speculate if there is a connection."
On Nov. 23, 2001, Jim Southworth was shot to death as he hunted on family land 10 miles east of Neillsville in one of the only other homicides ever to be linked to Wisconsin's deer hunting season.
Southworth was shot twice in the back and both bullets exited his chest, an autopsy found.
Witnesses reported a pickup truck with three men inside on a road near where Southworth's body was found, about 80 miles south of Sunday's shooting.
The three men were described as Asian from 5-foot-4-inches to 6-feet. They were driving a silver or gray Nissan or Chevrolet pickup truck, possibly a late 1980s model with a light-colored fiberglass topper.
Chai Soua Vang, 36, of St. Paul, Minn., who is suspected of shooting eight hunters Sunday, is 5-foot-4-inches, according to a court document. Vang has owned a 1987 Nissan pickup, according to an online search service. According to court records, Vang allegedly shot several of Sunday's victims in the back.
The Sawyer County rampage was allegedly sparked by a dispute over Vang using a deer stand on private property. One of the theories Clark County authorities have been pursuing is that Southworth was shot after confronting a trespasser.
Officials said that Vang was hunting with two other people on Sunday, before he became lost and wandered onto the private property. Police are looking for those other people.
Vang did have an out-of-state license to hunt in Wisconsin in 2001, said Mike Bartz, a Department of Natural Resources warden manager. He also had a license in 2000, 2002 and this year, he said.
Kirn called the three people being sought in Southworth's murder "persons of interest."
"To our knowledge, those are the only three people who we haven't identified who were in that area that day," Kirn said.
Kirn said he could not comment on whether Vang has been or will be questioned in the Southworth case. Investigators from the state Department of Justice are investigating both cases, he said.
"They need to do their investigation and when all facts come out, and they will relay that to me, and we'll make the comparison," Kirn said.
The Sawyer County Sheriff's Department, the first to respond to Sunday's shooting, referred questions to the Department of Justice. A spokesman there declined to comment on whether a connection was being investigated between the two cases.
Told of the two cases, a retired FBI agent said his experience tells him that they could very well be related.
"The odds of the two being unrelated are astronomical, I would say," said Bob Dwyer, who now works as a private investigator in Florida.
But an absence of physical evidence in the 2001 case could make it difficult to prove such a connection, Dwyer said. The best way to tie two crimes together is to match weapons or bullets, he said.
Kirn declined to comment on what kind of gun was used to kill Southworth or if they recovered bullets in the woods where he was shot. A warden said last year that investigators were looking for casings.
The hunting rifle Southworth was carrying - a Ruger model 77 bolt action .03-06-caliber - was missing.
http://www.jsonline.com/news/state/nov04/278124.asp
Angel Lust?
Last Wisconsin execution:
http://www.wisbar.org/wislawmag/archive/history/pt04sb.html
Please add me to the ping list. Thank you.
Why? What do they do?
I would say authorities already know the ID'd of the other two. Just check the hunting license registry where old Deadeye Vang got his.
Thanks for the confirm, Petruchio.
I see you must not have gotten the memo: "people are the same everywhere!"
That would be great. I'm sure there are lots of people who would be interested in reading a first person report from the family. I can hardly bear to listen to the radio and TV reports on this incident. It turns my stomach.
I hope you will ping me, when the appropriate time has passed and you post the account.
a regular ping list would be great, I suspect I am not the only one who is going to be following this for a while
They'll probably have to transfer him to some other state -- which is what they did with Dahmer, and he didn't live long, either.
Dahmer was killed in Columbia Correctional which is in Wisconsin, he was never transfered out. The gangbanger who killed him (and paid well for it) was transfered to Fed. afterwards because he already had life and nothing to lose in the WI system (which is why he had no quams about killing Dahmer)
OK, time for some "Twilight Zone" music here. Whether he's the same guy or not, you have to admit that one great place for a serial killer is in the woods with a deer rifle.
Also, I would not want to be an Asian-American hunting in northern Wisconsin this weekend, and especially not one in a vehicle with Minnesota plates. I will be very surprised if there is not at least one more "hunting accident" before this season is over on Sunday.
Its funny you mention that. I work with a Hmong guy who just told me he wasn't going hunting this week now because of this and his fear of a backlash. Its too bad really that this one guy makes it worse for everybody although the MSM will continue to insist it our fault.
Actually, I read that only one execution was ever carried out in Wisconsin, and as you said it was a hanging with many "picnic observers". The hanging did not go well, and the horror of the sight convinced the State to outlaw it. This was in the 1800's.
This was written up in my local newspaper last year, but I don't know where I could find a link. (My local paper isn't on line). It was a very interesting story.
Now I am going on childhood memories of my grandfather's story here but it seems as if there was a hanging in Durand, WI years ago which included members of the James gang but that may have been a lynching also. Like I said, my memory is pretty vague about this.
If the authorities have spent shell casings from the 2001 homicide, it may not be that hard to prove. Every gun leaves it's own unique firing pin impression on a casing. When the police searched Vang's house they may have found other weapons. They just have to test those weapons to see if they get a match an wala, you have your killer.
Thanks for the link, it's very interesting.
Bump.
Drive-by hunting????? :o
This is a very sad case....
Sorry, my mistake. For some reason I had it in my head that he was killed in a prison in another state, and didn't bother to confirm that before posting. Mea culpa.
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