Posted on Sat, Sep. 17, 2005
Vang found guilty
St. Paul man will serve life in prison for hunter slayings
BY KEVIN HARTER and JOHN BREWER
Pioneer Press
HAYWARD, Wis. ? Ten months after an angry confrontation at a northwestern Wisconsin deer stand erupted in gunfire, leaving six hunters dead, two wounded and an entire community in pain, nine guilty verdicts against Chai Soua Vang brought a sense of relief to families of the victims.
"The verdict of guilty will never bring my brother back, but we can start the healing process," said Linda Lavin, the sister of slain hunter Allan Laski.
"My brother," she said, "never deserved to die."
"Six families were affected, but in the end we were one family," Lavin said.
The jury of eight women and four men deliberated 3? hours before returning the guilty verdicts ? six for first-degree murder and three for first-degree attempted murder.
The convictions call for a mandatory sentence of life in prison. Sawyer County Circuit Judge Norman Yackel will hand down the sentence at a later date.
Chai Soua Vang, a 36-year-old truck driver from St. Paul, showed no emotion as the verdicts were read about 5:30 p.m. Friday.
Many of the members of the families of the victims held hands or wiped tears as the verdicts were read.
As Chai Soua Vang, clad in a green suit, was escorted out of the courtroom, many family members hugged each other. They filled six rows reserved for them during the six-day trial.
Fighting tears, Patti Willers, the wife of Terry, who was shot but survived, and the mother of Jessica, who was killed, said she would always "remember Jess for her big smile." She, and the others, said justice was served by the verdict.
Chai Soua Vang's family had a different reaction as they questioned the racial makeup of the all-white jury and said its deliberations were too brief, preventing a full consideration of the defense's case.
"In less than four hours, my brother's life was taken from us," said sister Chou Vang, referring to the time it took the jury to reach its verdict.
"That's not fair to us. People of the jury do not know how we feel. Every single one of them was white."
Chai Soua Vang's wife, Deu Khang, spoke harshly of the hunters her husband killed.
"I am glad that Chai has the experience to defend himself from these evil people," she said. "They deserve it."
Chai Soua Vang's mother was the last to speak.
She talked in Hmong, raising her voice and pointing to the sky. A family member said that she felt the question about who shot at who first on Nov. 21 was never answered, and she would pray that God would render justice.
Wisconsin Attorney General Peg Lautenschlager, serving as lead prosecutor in the high-profile case, said the jury returned a "just and fair verdict."
The defense team was not surprised at the verdict.
"We had no illusions," said Steven Kohn, one of the Milwaukee defense lawyers. "The facts were incredibly difficult from a defense standpoint."
The judge rejected a defense motion for a change of venue, but agreed to bring an outside jury in from Dane County, where the state capital, Madison, is located.
Chai Soua Vang contended he shot the white hunters in self-defense during the confrontation because they cursed him with racist slurs, threatened him and fired a shot at him. On the witness stand, Chai Soua Vang calmly described how he shot each of the eight hunters and said three of them deserved to die.
In closing arguments, Lautenschlager told the jury that Chai Soua Vang ? angry about the hostile confrontation ? "ran after and pursued every hunter. That is not self-defense."
After the verdict, the jurors declined to meet with the news media or attorneys in the case.
The shootings shocked and saddened Rice Lake and the surrounding area, where all the victims were from. In the days following the deaths, the community banded together with a show of blaze orange ribbons and collections of money for the surviving family members.
The confrontation began when Terry Willers, 42, spotted Chai Soua Vang in a tree stand and told him he was on private land and told him to leave. Five other hunters drove up on ATVs to confront Chai Soua Vang, who had apologized to Willers and was leaving after saying that he had become lost.
Robert Crotteau, who owned the 80 acres with Willers, told Chai Soua Vang to get off the property, using language that Willers and hunting partner Lauren Hesebeck said was profane but not racist. Willers testified that Chai Soua Vang began walking away but suddenly stopped and began firing his rifle, wounding Willers.
In a span of a few minutes, Chai Soua Vang fired at least 20 shots, killing Robert Crotteau, 42, his 20-year-old son, Joseph, Mark Roidt, 28, and two other hunters, Laski, 43, and 27-year-old Jessica Willers, who responded to radio calls for help and were shot off their ATV. Dennis Drew was wounded and died later at a hospital.
Hesebeck was also shot and wounded, but survived.
Chai Soua Vang testified he ran after a fleeing Joseph Crotteau and shot at him repeatedly. Crotteau was shot four times, including a fatal wound to the base of his neck. Four of the slain hunters were shot in the back, according to medical examiners.
All the hunters were unarmed except for Terry Willers, who was disabled when wounded. Hesebeck testified he later grabbed Willers' rifle and fired one shot at Chai Soua Vang, missing.
But Chai Soua Vang testified that Willers fired the first shot and that he feared for his life in the minutes afterward, leading him to shoot repeatedly because he feared the hunters were getting other guns.
When arrested, Chai Soua Vang told police that Terry Willers took his rifle and shot the other hunters and then tried to frame Chai Soua Vang, an inconsistency pointed out by prosecutors.
Many in the Twin Cities Hmong community said they weren't surprised by the verdict.
"My feelings are mixed ? I feel sorry for him, but I think the court did their job," said Kahoua Yang, Lao Family Community of Minnesota vice president. "I think we can put this behind us now and move on."
Kahoua Yang said he doesn't believe Chai Soua Vang was discriminated against during the trial, but wished the jury could have included people of a variety of races.
After talking with reporters about the verdict, the family of Chai Soua Vang walked across the street to the jail and met with the defendant for 45 minutes, said Kurt Barthel, Sawyer County jail administrator. They were separated by glass and spoke by telephone.
Barthel led Chai Soua Vang back to his cell when the family left.
"Under the circumstances, I asked him how he was doing," Barthel said. "He said he was OK. He's accepted it."
Bill Gardner, Mara H. Gottfried and Lee Egerstrom contributed to this report.
Kevin Harter can be reached at
kharter@pioneerpress.com or 1-800-950-9080, ext. 2149.
