Update on Deer hunting shooting.

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Charges say 4 were shot in back

 

Officials charge Vang with six murders

 

By TOM HELD

[email protected]: Nov. 29, 2004The criminal complaint charging Chia Soua Vang with six counts of first-degree intentional homicide asserts that he shot four victims in the back and all but one were unarmed during the slaughter on the gun deer season's second day.

Those facts and other evidence cited in the complaint filed late Monday conflict with Vang's statements that he began firing upon the hunting party in self-defense, after being told to leave their property near Exeland in Sawyer County.

 

The complaint charges Vang, 36, with homicide in the deaths of Dennis Drew, 55, Allan Laski, 43, Mark Roidt, 28, Jessica Willers, 27, Robert Crotteau, 42, and his son, Joey Crotteau, 20. Prosecutors in the state attorney general's office also charged Vang with two counts of attempted first-degree homicide for shooting and wounding Lauren Hesebeck, 48, and Jessica Willers' father, Terry Willers, 47.

 

The Crotteaus, Laski and Jessica Willers all died of gunshot wounds to the back, according to autopsies by the Ramsey County (Minn.) medical examiner's office. Drew died of a gunshot wound to the abdomen, and Roidt was shot in the head.

 

The complaint says only Terry Willers was armed during Vang's initial rampage, and that Hesebeck eventually used Willers' gun to fire at Vang, driving him off and ending the attack. At least 20 shots were fired in the confrontation, based on accounts from Vang and the two surviving hunters.

 

In his first statement to authorities, Vang denied he shot anyone, claiming that Willers took his gun and shot the others. He later admitted to shooting the eight people, while asserting he acted in self-defense, according to authorities.

 

All of the victims lived in or near Rice Lake in Barron County and were part of a larger hunting group. The close friends and relatives were hunting together on land owned by Robert Crotteau and Terry Willers.

 

Their deaths tainted the season for thousands of hunters throughout Wisconsin and devastated people who knew and loved the victims. Thousands of people in and around Rice Lake attended the six wakes and funerals over a period of mourning that began Nov. 21 and stretched through the Thanksgiving weekend.

 

While it fails to answer the overriding question of why, the criminal complaint offers some answers to those struggling to come to grips with the tragedy and rebuts Vang's assertions of self-defense.

 

In the scenario laid out in the complaint, Willers first confronted Vang after finding the truck driver from St. Paul, Minn., in a tree stand on his property.

 

Willers told a state Department of Justice investigator that he approached Vang with his deer rifle slung over his shoulder, as he walked back to a hunting cabin roughly a half mile away. Willers radioed to the cabin and checked if anyone had given permission for another hunter to use the tree stand. They said no, and Willers told Vang to leave.

 

As Vang walked away, Hesebeck, the Crotteaus, Drew and Roidt arrived on two all-terrain vehicles and also confronted the suspect. None carried guns, Hesebeck and Willers told authorities.

 

Hesebeck and Willers reported that Robert Crotteau swore at Vang while ordering him off the property, directed others to write down his hunting license number and threatened to report him to the state Department of Natural Resources.

 

Vang told an investigator the group made threatening gestures and racial slurs. Hesebeck and Willers said no one in the group threatened the suspect at any time.

 

After walking roughly 30 yards from Willers and the others, Vang removed the scope from his 7.62mm SKS rifle. He then turned and faced the group.

 

Willers told an investigator he unslung his rifle and held it in front of him while directing Vang to leave. Vang then began shooting, according to the victims' account.

 

Vang has said Willers fired at him first, but missed.

 

According to the complaint, the initial shots launched a surreal chain of events. A bullet hit Willers in the neck and exited his shoulder, paralyzing him. As more shots rang out, Willers and Hesebeck looked around to see Roidt and Drew on the ground.

 

Hesebeck sought cover behind an ATV, but Vang scrambled around the vehicle and fired three shots, wounding Hesebeck in the shoulder with the third.

 

Vang then chased down Robert and Joey Crotteau as they ran through the woods toward the cabin.

 

The elder Crotteau's body was found about 40 yards from the initial scene. His son, shot four times in the back, died about 100 yards deeper in the woods.

 

After he was shot, Hesebeck radioed for help and began to give first aid to Willers and Drew. Carter Crotteau, 18, drove toward the shootings on an ATV. Along the way, he picked up Brandon Willers, who had a rifle.

 

Vang told an investigator that as he saw them approach, he changed his hunting coat from blaze orange to camouflage, and reloaded his gun, but chose not to fire upon the pair, who then helped Terry Willers to safety. The complaint does not state whether the two younger men saw Vang at that point.

 

With six hunters now killed or wounded, Laski and Jessica Willers approached the scene on an ATV, in response to Hesebeck's call for help. They drove about 10 to 15 feet past Vang, who shot them off the vehicle, the complaint says.

 

The suspect told an investigator that Laski was taking a rifle from his shoulder, but no gun was found near the ATV he and Willers were riding.

 

Once again, Vang turned his attention to Hesebeck, stating his surprise that one of his initial victims was still alive. Hesebeck ducked behind a small dirt hill and exchanged shots with Vang, who then ran down an ATV trail.

 

After roaming through the woods, Vang hitched a ride with another hunter, who delivered him to a waiting DNR warden about 5:30 p.m., five hours after the killings.

 

Vang is being held in the Sawyer County Jail in lieu of $2.5 million bail.

 

He is expected to make his initial court appearance today in the basement of the jail. The location provides additional security.

 

Family members of the victims and other spectators will watch the proceedings on television monitors in the county courthouse.

 

In a briefing with reporters, Attorney General Peg Lautenschlager declined to answer questions about details of the case, citing the ongoing investigation.