Suspect in Wisconsin killings found dead in SUV

By Calvin Palmer

The man police in Wisconsin were seeking in connection with four murders was found dead yesterday morning inside an SUV.

Tyrone Adair, 38, of Middleton, Wisconsin, died of a gunshot wound, Dane County Coroner Raymond Wosepka said.

On Friday, Adair was charged with two counts of first-degree homicide in the deaths of Tracy Judd, 33, and 23-month-old Deja Adair.

He was also a “person of interest” in the fatal shooting of Amber Weigel, 25, and two-year-old Neveah Weigel-Adair.

The search for Adair began Thursday evening, when Madison police were called to a duplex on the city’s southwest side.

Officers found Weigel and Neveah shot in a vehicle in the garage. About two hours later, police found Adair’s car in a parking lot next to a Middleton bar. They discovered Judd and Deja’s bodies in the trunk.

Adair’s grandmother, Dorothy Carter, said Adair had lost his job at Clack Corp.

“He’s always been a good guy,” Carter said, fighting back tears. “He was depressed. I know that’s no excuse, but that’s what happened.”

Peter Chermak, Clack’s vice president and CEO, said that Adair last worked for the company six months ago.

[Based on a report by the Wisconsin State Journal.]

Police hunt for suspect in ‘domestic killing’ of women and young girls

By Calvin Palmer

Police in Wisconsin are a searching for a “person of interest” in connection with four fatal shootings of two women and two young girls last night.

Madison Police spokesman Joel DeSpain said Tyrone Adair, 38, had a relationship with both women found dead Thursday but declined to say if he had any connection with the girls.

“We believe these are somewhat domestic in nature,” DeSpain said.

Court records show Adair had paternity cases with two women and a criminal record in Dane County, including convictions for battery and bail jumping.

Police were called to a home on Madison’s southwest side around 6:00 p.m. and discovered a mother and her daughter shot to death inside a vehicle in the garage.

Around 8:30 p.m., Madison police asked officers in nearby Middleton to locate a vehicle that eventually was found in a parking lot with the bodies of a woman and a girl in the trunk.

Middleton Police Lt Noel Kakuske said both appeared to have been shot.

The victims’ names and ages have not yet been released.

Kakuse said the relationship between the woman and the child found in Middleton has not been established. The girl may have been two or three years old, he said.

Investigators believe they were killed elsewhere and the car abandoned in Middleton.

“It’s possible it was just a random location to leave the vehicle,” Kakuske said.

In 2008, Adair and Tracy Graser, of Middleton, reached a court settlement acknowledging that Adair was the father of a child named Deja Adair, who was born on Christmas Day, 2007. A family court commissioner ordered Graser and Adair to share custody of the child because they were living together in Middleton at the time.

Court documents also show that a woman sought a restraining order in 2006 against a Tyrone Adair after she said he stalked and threatened her for months.

The woman said Adair slashed her tires, broke into her apartment, destroyed her computer, phone and television, and repeatedly made threatening phone calls to her.

Dane County Circuit Judge James Martin granted the restraining order in July 2006, prohibiting Adair from contacting the woman or possessing a firearm until 2010.

At one point, she said she left her apartment because she was scared of him and went to live with friends.

[Based on a report by the Associated Press.]

Couple get six months in jail for prayer instead of doctor for dying daughter

By Calvin Palmer

The Wisconsin parents who put their faith in the power of prayer rather than emergency room doctors and watched their 11-year-old daughter die were sentenced yesterday to six months in prison and 10 years probabtion.

Dale Neumann, 47, and his wife Leilani, 41, of Weston, were convicted earlier this year, in separate trials, of second-degree reckless homicide in the March 2008 death of Madeline Neumann, who died of an undiagnosed but treatable form of diabetes.

In sentencing the couple, Marathon County Circuit Court Judge Vincent Howard said the Neumanns were “very good people, raising their family who made a bad decision, a reckless decision.”

“God probably works through other people,” Howard told the parents, “some of them doctors.”

Prosecutors contended the Neumanns recklessly killed their youngest of four children by ignoring obvious symptoms of severe illness as she became too weak to speak, eat, drink or walk. They said the couple had a legal duty to take their daughter to a doctor but relied totally on prayer for healing. The girl, known as Kara, died on the floor of the family’s rural home as people surrounded her and prayed. Someone finally called 911 after she stopped breathing.

“We are here today because to some, you made Kara a martyr to your faith,” Howard told the parents.

In testimony at trial and in videotaped interviews with police, the parents said they believe healing comes from God and that they never expected their daughter to die.

During the sentencing hearing, Leilani Neumann told the judge her family is loving and forgiving and has wrongly been portrayed as religious zealots.

“I do not regret trusting truly in the Lord for my daughter’s health,” she said. “Did we know she had a fatal illness? No. Did we act to the best of our knowledge? Yes.”

Dale Neumann read from the Bible and told the judge that he loved his daughter.

“I am guilty of trusting my Lord’s wisdom completely. Guilty of asking for heavenly intervention. Guilty of following Jesus Christ when the whole world does not understand. Guilty of obeying my God,” he said.

The Neumanns held each other as Howard sentenced them.

Prosecutors had asked for a three-year suspended prison sentence and 10 years probation. Defense attorneys had sought four years probation.

The judge ordered the couple to serve one month in jail each year for six years so the parents can “think about Kara and what God wants you to learn from this.” One parent would serve the term in March and the other in September. Howard stayed the jail sentences while the couple’s convictions are appealed.

As part of their probation, the parents must allow a public health nurse to examine their two underage children at least once every three months and must immediately take their children to a doctor for any serious injuries.

Assistant District Attorney LaMont Jacobson said justice was served by the sentences, but he was disappointed the parents never said they were sorry for what happened.

“They allowed Kara to die because they got themselves too caught up in the misguided belief that they were being tested by God,” the prosecutor said.

After the sentencing, Dale Neumann told reporters: “We live by faith. We are completely content with what the Lord has allowed to come down, but he is not done yet.”

[Based on a report by the Associated Press.]

Love-cheat husband meets a sticky end

By Calvin Palmer

A philandering husband lured to a Wisconsin motel by one of his lovers became the victim of a group of women, including his wife, bent on revenge, according to documents filed in Calumet County.

Four women bound, blindfolded and assaulted the man who ended up with his penis glued to his stomach as a poetic punishment for his infidelity.

Wendy Sewell, 43, of Kaukauna, Therese Ziemann, 48, of Menasha, Michelle Belliveau, 43, of Neenah, and the man’s wife, Tracy Hood-Davis, are charged with being party to false imprisonment, a felony.

Ziemann also is charged with fourth-degree sexual assault.

The women are free on $200 bail.

Investigators say all the women but Belliveau were romantically involved with the man.

The plot for revenge unfolded last Thursday at the Lakeview Motel, in Stockbridge, about 30 miles southwest of Green Bay.

The man allegedly agreed to be bound with “sheer sheets” and blindfolded with a pillowcase for a “rub down” by Ziemann. She instead cut off his underwear with a scissors and summoned the others to the room with a text message.

Ziemann struck the man in the face, and used Krazy Glue to attach his penis to his stomach when the other women arrived, according to court documents.

The man told investigators he also was threatened with a gun. Ziemann told investigators she didn’t have a gun but may have told the victim, “Do you know how much I want to shoot you?”

He started screaming and the women rushed off, allegedly taking his wallet, vehicle and cell phone.

Ziemann told investigators she met the man online through Craigslist, fell in love and paid for his use of a room at the motel for the past two months. She said she gave him about $3,000. Then last Wednesday, she learned from the man’s wife that he was married, had other girlfriends and was “using them for money”. She expected the money to be repaid, according to the documents.

During Thursday’s confrontation, Ziemann told investigators Sewell asked him, “Which one do you love more?” and the man’s wife made a derisive remark about him being scared.

The man eventually freed himself from the bed by chewing through one of his bindings. He went outside and borrowed a telephone from the motel owner to call police.

[Based on reports by the Associated Press , globo.com and The Sun.]

Jury finds Wisconsin father guilty of letting his daughter die of diabetes

By Calvin Palmer

The Wisconsin man who looked to prayer instead of medical treatment to save his 11-year-old daughter from undiagnosed diabetes was found guilty yesterday of second-degree reckless homicide.

A jury of six men and six women deliberated for 15 hours, over two days, before convicting Dale Neumann, 47, of Weston, over the death of his daughter, Madeline Kara Neumann, on March 23, 2008.

Prosecutors argued he should have taken the girl to hospital when she reached the point where she was unable to walk, talk, eat or drink.

Instead Neumann, his wife and others, surrounded Madeline as she lay on the floor and prayed. Someone finally called 911 when she stopped breathing.

Leilani Neumann, 41, was convicted on the same charge in May. Marathon County Circuit Judge Vincent Howard set October 6 for sentencing for both parents, who face up to 25 years in prison.

Neumann, who once studied to be a Pentecostal minister, testified on Thursday that he believed God would heal his daughter and he never expected her to die. God promises in the Bible to heal, he said.

“If I go to the doctor, I am putting the doctor before God,” Neumann testified. “I am not believing what he said he would do.”

The father testified that he thought Madeline had the flu or a fever, and several relatives and family friends said they also did not realize how sick she was.

Assistant District Attorney LaMont Jacobson told jurors in closing arguments on Friday that Neumann was “overwhelmed by pride” in his interpretation of the Bible and selfishly let Madeline die as a test of faith.

Neumann knew he should have taken his daughter to a doctor and minimized her illness when speaking with investigators, Jacobson said, calling Neumann no different than a drunken driver who remarks he only had a couple of beers.

Doctors testified that Madeline would have had a good chance of survival if she had received medical care, including insulin and fluids, before she stopped breathing.

Defense attorney Jay Kronenwetter Kronenwetter told the jury that Neumann sincerely believed praying would heal his daughter and he did nothing criminally wrong.

“Dale Neumann was doing what he thought would work for his daughter,” Kronenwetter said. “He was administering faith healing. He thought it was working.”

Outside court, Kronenwetter said the verdict would be appealed.

[Based on a report by the Associated Press.]

Wisconsin mother thought daughter’s fatal illness was a test of faith

By Calvin Palmer

The mother of the 11-year-old Wisconsin girl who died of undiagnosed diabetes while the family put its trust in the power of pray testified today that she believes sickness is caused by sin and can be cured by God.

Leilani Neuman who has been convicted of second-degree reckless homicide and is awaiting sentencing told the jury at the trial of her husband she thought her daughter’s illness was a test of her religious faith and she didn’t take the girl to a doctor because that would have been “complete disobedience to what we believe”.

As presiding judge at this trial, I would question whether this woman was competent to give evidence. However, I am not and all of Wisconsin can breathe a sigh of relief.

Dale Neumann, 47, is facing the same charge as that of his wife over the death of daughter Madeline Kara Neumann.

The prosecution argues he recklessly killed the youngest of his four children by ignoring her deteriorating health. They claim Neumann had a legal duty to take her to a doctor.

Leilani Neumann,41, testified for nearly five hours today, describing the events leading up to the death of her daughter on March 23, 2008. She died on a mattress on the floor of the family’s rural Weston home as people surrounded her and prayed. Someone called 911 when the girl stopped breathing.

Hallelujah! Praise the Lord! Although it was a bit late, locking the stable door after the horse has bolted.

The mother said that she and her husband believed their daughter’s deteriorating condition may have been the result of a falling out with another couple, and called them once the girl was unconscious and persuaded them to come pray for the girl.

Is this woman for real? Sadly, particularly in her daughter’s case, the answer is yes.

The family does not belong to an organized religion.

No kidding! Even the most fundamental churches would draw back from having these Looney Tunes among their congregation.

Leilani Neumann said she has nothing against doctors but believes in spiritual healing and viewed Madeline’s illness as “something spiritual”.

As you do, if you happen to have a warped mentality or one that belongs to the Dark Ages.

She also said that she did not realize her daughter was seriously ill until the day before her death, when the girl was weak and pale and had trouble speaking.

It took her that long?

“I asked her if she loved Jesus,” the mother testified. “She might have said yes. I know for sure she was acknowledging it. What sounds came out, I don’t remember. She was making noises… My focus definitely was to pray.”

She said she never once believed the girl would die.

“We thought even the lifelessness was something that she would come out of,” the mother said. “Everything for us is about faith. It is about trusting in God. We either believe in God’s word or we don’t.”

I am no Bible scholar but I would doubt there is any passage that suggests letting a loved one die in order to prove one’s faith. And has it not occurred to these two wackos that the Bible was written at a time when medicine was at its most crudest and base level? I imagine the Egyptians under the Pharaohs looked to Osiris when a family member became ill; the ancient Greeks called upon Apollo; the Nordic races invoked Odin or Thor. And, of course, all these dieties have since been discredited by the Christian faith, which begs the question about the validity of their own God.

A pediatric expert on diabetes told the jury yesterday that even right before her death, doctors might have been able to save the girl’s life had she been brought to a hospital.

The readers of the Wasau Daily Herald have rightly questioned whether this family had healthcare insurance. If they did, it makes a mockery of the faith they proclaim to hold. No surprise there.

The trial continues.

[Based on a report by the Associated Press.]

“Every person’s worst nightmare” gets 50 years in prison

By Calvin Palmer

A Wisconsin paper mill worker was sentenced today to 50 years in prison for abducting and sexually assaulting two young men he kept chained at his home.

Wood County Circuit Court Judge Greg Potter told Ed Lanphear, 47, of Saratoga, he was every person’s worst nightmare. The judge added that he was determined Lanphear would not have the opportunity to offend again.

Lanphear abducted the men in Wisconsin Rapids in separate incidents last July.

A 23-year-old Grand Rapids man was walking home when Lanphear offered to give him a ride. Once the man got into Lanphear’s truck and the two drove off, Lanphear pulled over, said he was a police officer and handcuffed the man.

Lanphear took the 23-year-old to his home, where he chained him in the basement.

On the evening of July 7, a 21-year-old Wisconsin Rapids man chose to sleep in his vehicle in the parking lot at a bar, after he realized he was too intoxicated to drive. He awoke to find Lanphear restraining him with zip ties around his hands.

Lanphear took the 21-year-old back to his home and chained him in the garage.

Both victims reported being beaten and sexually assaulted.

Police were eventually alerted when the 21-year-old managed to free himself from the garage and ran, naked and chained, to a nearby house for help.

[Based on reports by the Wisconsin Rapids Daily Tribune and newsday.com.]

Police seizure of American flag signaling distress may result in legal action

By Calvin Palmer

An American flag flown upside down to signal the distress of a businessman who was refused a liquor license for his restaurant by a Wisconsin village may result in legal action after police officers seized the flag before a Fourth of July parade.

Vito Congine Jr began flying the flag upside down outside the restaurant he wants to open in Crivitz, a village of about 1,000 people some 65 miles north of Green Bay.

His distress is likely bankruptcy because the village board refused to grant him a liquor license after he spent nearly $200,000 to buy and remodel a downtown building.

Hours before a Fourth of July parade, four police officers went to Congine’s property and removed the flag under the advice of Marinette County District Attorney Allen Brey. The next day, the flag was returned.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Wisconsin is considering legal action against the village for violating Congine’s First Amendment rights, Executive Director Chris Ahmuty said.

“It is not often that you see something this blatant,” Ahmuty said.

Marinette County Sheriff Jim Kanikula said it was not illegal to fly the flag upside down but people were upset and it was the Fourth of July.

“It is illegal to cause a disruption,” he said.

Village President John Deschane, 60, an Army veteran who served in Vietnam, said many people in town believe it is disrespectful to fly the flag upside down.

“If he wants to protest, let him protest but find a different way to do it,” Deschane said.

Congine, a Marine veteran who served in Iraq in 2004, said he intends to keep flying the flag upside down.

“It is pretty bad when I go and fight a tyrannical government somewhere else and then I come home to find it right here at my front door,” Congine said.

Brey was unavailable for comment.

[Based on a report by the Associated Press.]

Wisconsin man pleads to kidnapping and sexual assault of two young men

By Calvin Palmer

A Wisconsin man faces up to 130 years in prison after pleading no contest today to the kidnapping and sexual assault of two young men whom he held captive in chains at his home.

Edward Lanphear, 47, of Wisconsin Rapids, was convicted of four felonies in the abductions of a 23-year-old man and a 22-year-old man last summer.

The paper mill worker and divorced father is due to be sentenced on July 22.

The prosecution wanted to avoid a trial and spare the victims having to testify. Neither victim was present when Lanphear entered his plea.

During a preliminary hearing, the victims testified that, after nights of drinking, they were abducted by Lanphear — one on July 4 and the other on July 8 — handcuffed, blindfolded and taken to his home where they were bound in chains and sexually assaulted.

The 22-year-old said he escaped July 8 after asking Lanphear for a cigarette and Lanphear left to buy some. The man said he used his chained feet to pull a ladder toward him, climbed it and freed the chain that had him tied to the ceiling in a garage.

He ran naked, chains dangling from his wrists and ankles, to a neighbor. The man said that when he was talking to a sheriff’s deputy at the neighbor’s home, Lanphear returned.

The 23-year-old testified that Lanphear offered him a ride as he sat on a curb July 4. The man thought Lanphear was driving him to his parents’ home but Lanphear said he was a police officer and handcuffed him.

The man said he was hit on the back of the head with a flashlight, driven to Lanphear’s home and kept in chains as Lanphear sexually assaulted him three or four times over four days.

At one point, the man testified that Lanphear told him that a string was attached to a gun and the man’s chains, and that if he tried to escape “I wouldn’t like the consequences.” He said he interpreted that to mean he would be shot.

[Based on a report by the Associated Press.]

Untreated diabetes girl’s mother found guilty of reckless homicide

By Calvin Palmer

A Wisconsin jury took more than three hours this afternoon to find a mother guilty of second-degree reckless homicide in the death of her daughter from untreated diabetes.

Leilani Neumann, 41, chose the power of prayer instead of seeking medical help as their 11-year-old Madeline Kara Neumann lay dying at the family’s home in rural Weston.

She faces up to 25 years in jail. A sentencing date has not been set.

“Obviously, there will be an appeal,” defense lawyer Gene Linehan said after the verdict.

During closing arguments, prosecutors portrayed Neumann as a religious zealot who ignored her daughter Kara’s symptoms of untreated diabetes and let the girl die as a test of faith.

“Religious extremism can be dangerous,” Marathon County District Attorney Jill Falstad said. “In this case, it was fatal. Basic medical care would have saved Kara’s life — fluids and insulin. There was plenty of time to save Kara’s life.”

Linehan said Neumann did not realize her daughter was so ill and did all she could do to help, in line with the family’s belief in faith-healing.

He said Neumann was a devout Christian who prays about everything and took good care of her four children.

“Religious extremism is a Muslim terrorist,” Linehan said. “They are saying these parents were so far off the scale that they murdered their child. The woman did everything she could to help her. That is the injustice in this case.”

Neumann and her husband Dale, 47, clutched each other and silently prayed with another man before the jury began to deliberate.

She then went to each of her other children sitting on a front-row courtroom bench and kissed them on the cheek.

Dale Neumann faces the same charge and is scheduled to face trial on July 23.

The Associated Press reports Neumann’s stepfather, Brian Gordon, as saying his stepdaughter did nothing wrong in trusting in God to heal her daughter.

“We should have that right in this country,” he said.

It would be a fair assumption to say that Gordon is probably pro-life when it comes to the issue of abortion but he appears to be anti-life when it comes to denying readily available medical treatment to a close family relative.

Gordon, allow me to let you into a little secret, we have no “rights” only responsibilities and your family clearly failed in its responsibilities to Madeline Kara.

The fact that you are allowed to walk free in America frightens me because you and the rest of your family clearly belong in a mental institution. You are dangerously delusional. Just ask Madeline Kara. It is the 21st Century not the Middle Ages.

[Based on reports by the Wausau Daily Herald and Associated Press.]