WIOTA - Once again, candles glowed for a heartbroken community.
Just seven months ago, on a chilly night late last September, the people of Lafayette County gathered to watch three glowing lanterns float into the night sky to honor three young boys killed by arson in Argyle. Grieving residents came together again Wednesday, May1 to mourn another tragedy: the murders this past weekend of three more neighbors in this close-knit rural county.
"Hold us close to your heart tonight," pleaded Luke Smetters in prayer. The pastor led hundreds of community members in a vigil at Wiota Lutheran Church for the slain members of his congregation, all well-loved farmers who spent most of their lives on land down the road.
Gary Thoreson, 70, his wife Chloe, 66, and his brother Dean, 76, were found dead Sunday morning, April 28 in Gary's home on Philippine Road, near the church. A suspect, 31-year-old Jaren Kuester of Waukesha, remains jailed in Lafayette County pending formal charging in a crime authorities say was at random. It isn't clear why Kuester, who has no apparent ties to this remote rural area, would have chosen to come here.
"The peace and quiet of our community has been ripped apart, once again," Smetters said. "Most of the time, we will find there are simply no words for our grief.
"And finally one of us stops and shouts out 'Pause.' We need to grieve. We need to breathe."
Members of the Dubuque Chorale's Cadenza sang "Amazing Grace" and other hymns in harmony while Smetters and other pastors did a "laying on of hands," placing their hands on people's heads in blessing. Many in the crowd wiped away tears as they turned back to sit down after the blessing.
Flickering light bathed the sanctuary as the electric lights were dimmed for a candle-lit ceremony at the end of the vigil, each person holding a small, white candle.
Smetters appealed to God for air and time to heal.
"Give us breath," he said in prayer.
'I want to know why'
Afterward, Dennis Holverson said he's been stricken since he found out about the murders Sunday morning. As a 20-year veteran of the Woodford Fire Department, he was one of the first people called to help search the area for a missing Gary Thoreson. It was the Thoresons other brother, Everett, who found his body.
"Everett came back to us and he said he'd found Gary," Holverson said. "As soon as I found out, it just got me. I couldn't sleep or nothing else."
Decades ago, Holverson worked on the Thoreson brothers' farm as a teenager, starting when he was 14. They remained lifelong friends, and now Holverson operates a dairy farm down the road. Last year during the drought, the brothers helped him out by giving him corn fodder for his cattle.
"They'd give the shirt off their back," he said.
Another neighbor, Steve Lincicum, said he'd never heard a bad word about the Thoresons.
"They're just really good folks," he said. Their murders are hitting the community hard, he added. "Farmers are a close-knit bunch."
The apparent random nature of the crime disturbs Lincicum and Holverson. The alleged killer, Kuester, reportedly walked miles naked or half-naked from his abandoned car, across the hilly, marshy terrain and Pecatonica River, to reach the Thoreson residence.
Both the neighbors say it's likely Kuester walked across their land, too.
"It could have been any of us," Holverson said. "They were just in the wrong spot at the wrong time."
Lincicum said, "I guess I'm like everyone else. I want to know why."
Quiet at the murder scene
By Wednesday evening, investigators were gone from the Thoreson home on Philippine Road where their bodies were found. For several days after, the road was blocked off as state agents worked out of a crime lab trailer to collect evidence.
The only evidence Wednesday evening that a criminal investigation had taken place here was a foot-long strip of ripped yellow crime tape left behind on the front lawn. It was an eerie scene. The gorgeous, rolling farmland surrounding the home was basked in sunlight, and the only sounds around the empty home were the songs of birds.
Just seven months ago, on a chilly night late last September, the people of Lafayette County gathered to watch three glowing lanterns float into the night sky to honor three young boys killed by arson in Argyle. Grieving residents came together again Wednesday, May1 to mourn another tragedy: the murders this past weekend of three more neighbors in this close-knit rural county.
"Hold us close to your heart tonight," pleaded Luke Smetters in prayer. The pastor led hundreds of community members in a vigil at Wiota Lutheran Church for the slain members of his congregation, all well-loved farmers who spent most of their lives on land down the road.
Gary Thoreson, 70, his wife Chloe, 66, and his brother Dean, 76, were found dead Sunday morning, April 28 in Gary's home on Philippine Road, near the church. A suspect, 31-year-old Jaren Kuester of Waukesha, remains jailed in Lafayette County pending formal charging in a crime authorities say was at random. It isn't clear why Kuester, who has no apparent ties to this remote rural area, would have chosen to come here.
"The peace and quiet of our community has been ripped apart, once again," Smetters said. "Most of the time, we will find there are simply no words for our grief.
"And finally one of us stops and shouts out 'Pause.' We need to grieve. We need to breathe."
Members of the Dubuque Chorale's Cadenza sang "Amazing Grace" and other hymns in harmony while Smetters and other pastors did a "laying on of hands," placing their hands on people's heads in blessing. Many in the crowd wiped away tears as they turned back to sit down after the blessing.
Flickering light bathed the sanctuary as the electric lights were dimmed for a candle-lit ceremony at the end of the vigil, each person holding a small, white candle.
Smetters appealed to God for air and time to heal.
"Give us breath," he said in prayer.
'I want to know why'
Afterward, Dennis Holverson said he's been stricken since he found out about the murders Sunday morning. As a 20-year veteran of the Woodford Fire Department, he was one of the first people called to help search the area for a missing Gary Thoreson. It was the Thoresons other brother, Everett, who found his body.
"Everett came back to us and he said he'd found Gary," Holverson said. "As soon as I found out, it just got me. I couldn't sleep or nothing else."
Decades ago, Holverson worked on the Thoreson brothers' farm as a teenager, starting when he was 14. They remained lifelong friends, and now Holverson operates a dairy farm down the road. Last year during the drought, the brothers helped him out by giving him corn fodder for his cattle.
"They'd give the shirt off their back," he said.
Another neighbor, Steve Lincicum, said he'd never heard a bad word about the Thoresons.
"They're just really good folks," he said. Their murders are hitting the community hard, he added. "Farmers are a close-knit bunch."
The apparent random nature of the crime disturbs Lincicum and Holverson. The alleged killer, Kuester, reportedly walked miles naked or half-naked from his abandoned car, across the hilly, marshy terrain and Pecatonica River, to reach the Thoreson residence.
Both the neighbors say it's likely Kuester walked across their land, too.
"It could have been any of us," Holverson said. "They were just in the wrong spot at the wrong time."
Lincicum said, "I guess I'm like everyone else. I want to know why."
Quiet at the murder scene
By Wednesday evening, investigators were gone from the Thoreson home on Philippine Road where their bodies were found. For several days after, the road was blocked off as state agents worked out of a crime lab trailer to collect evidence.
The only evidence Wednesday evening that a criminal investigation had taken place here was a foot-long strip of ripped yellow crime tape left behind on the front lawn. It was an eerie scene. The gorgeous, rolling farmland surrounding the home was basked in sunlight, and the only sounds around the empty home were the songs of birds.