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
Oh Lord, this just angers me. Thankfully, another family may finally find closure on their loss.
I'm trying to get all the links together here. And am considering a regular ping list. Comments, please.
I don't think a "look" at him is what they were hoping for.
One of the locals must know someone on the "inside" at Waupun.
; )
include me, please
If you do start a ping list on this, please include me. Thanks.
This sheds some light in trying to explain as to why Vang deicided to shoot everyone. Thought he could get away with it again. Even if he had killed everyone the clue of his tag # written in the dust on the fourwheeler would have been his undoing.
I think you can consider that a safe assumption.
Police are looking for two others that were supposably with Vang on Sunday. This article states there were three together in the truck. We don't know who they are or where they're at.
Thanks much
I'd say they're long since back in east St. Paul, working to make sure they've got airtight alibis.
PING me too pls.
As I understand it, we had the death penalty in Wisconsin back when the most common form of execution was hanging. All of the executions were public, and thousands of people would make a picnic out of it. That got to be too much for some people, and we got rid of it altogether.
See #31
Ok, you're on.
Ah, very good!
As you know, I'm interested, so add me to the list. When and if the time is appropriate I will post a report from a victim's relative, if she agrees. I REALLY want their side of the story to be heard. I'm sick of some of the crap being reported by the media, and by the some of the responses posted on FR.
I well remember when Jesse Anderson killed his wife outside that TGI Friday's in Brown Deer. We lived in Milwaukee at the time and a woman I worked with said the next day she thought he did it and I was so shocked and then it turned out he did.
Interesting that this other fellow was apparently killed on his own land by "3 Asian men", and his rifle stolen. In the recent incident, this Vang fellow supposedly had 2 companions -- where are they? And are there any weapons missing from the 6 dead?
Just consider the scenario of white hunters being gunned down on private land by Hmong poachers as a pattern. Once is a psycho tragedy, a pattern will evoke horrible backlash. After all, the Michigan Militia isn't that far away.
From now on, I hunt with a semiauto and a full clip.
Gloria will be the Devil's Advocate......
Please include me on your list. There are a few reasons this case interests me so.
1- My brother was hunting in an area not too far from there when this happened. We at home were quite concerned until we spoke with him afterwards.
2- I make frequent trips up to WI. Matter of fact, I am going up to the Pleasent Prarie area this afternoon.
3- I am a RKBA well grounded individual. (cannot say RKBA nut)
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.
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