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
Just for the record, Bush won Racine County - But you are correct, the city of Racine is as leftist as it gets.
Instead of putting on their camo's and lighting candles at the "ol' candlelight vigil", I would be heartened to hear that some of the residents had a little rally at the jailhouse door followed by an old fashioned necktie party. The candles should be lit for a vigil in remembrance of the manhood that used to prevail in this country, but has somehow and somewhere disappeared. "Oh, I suppose justice will prevail." I wonder what Hmong jerky tastes like.
#1. Just like chicken..
#2. Kinda reminds me of wet dog..
#3. Anybody seen the cat?
#4. Week old sun dried fish..
Regards,
GtG
Wisconsin farmers have warm hands, keeps the cows happy!
Regards,
GtG
Humphrey would not even qualify as a moderate democrat by today's standards. He was actively PRO gun! And a throughly honorable man. Yikes..
Regards,
GtG
Interesting article. More details will surely be forthcoming.
You are a for-sure nut case. The Hmong have no tribal ties to the USA --- they should be sent home where they do. As far as racism --- this Vang was a racist who shot down 8 unarmed whites. If the situation were reversed and a white man shot down 8 innocent unarmed minority types, it would bew called a hate crime. Obviously it's open season on whites. And you actually justify this kind of racist killing.
All I can say is, what a load of hooey. It's not clear to me how one can say that a guy is 5' 4" when he's sitting in a pickup truck. "Shooting in the back" might tell you the direction the bullet was traveling, but it says nothing about who shot it. As for the type and make of truck --- well, so what? I personally know at least two guys whose trucks match the description to a T. I suspect that there is more than one Asian in the vicinity who drives a similar truck, or did. And finally, it's a looooong stretch from all of this hearsay evidence, to accusing Mr. Vang of that murder.
He may be guilty of this other killing -- I have no idea either way. But if this is all they've got, it's just wide-eyed and breathless hype. It's certainly not "evidence."
If it were me, racist folks would be long gone. It's truley sad that after all these years, there are still idiots like you that are born.
See a good psychiatrist. Even a bad one could help your situation.
If it "were you," where would you put all the "racist folks?"
A new, progressive Auschwitz? A liberal Gulag, for intensive PC brainwashing?
It's the least he could do since he lives with him... /sarcasm
Hi, Iowa Granny - could you add me please?
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