SOUTH WAYNE - A Waukesha man is jailed in connection to a triple homicide that occurred over the weekend at a farm house in rural South Wayne.
The bodies of Gary Thoreson, 70, and his wife Chloe Thoreson, 66, were discovered Sunday morning, April 28, at their home on Philippine Road, along with the body of Gary's brother and neighbor Dean Thoreson, 76.
By Sunday afternoon, a Waukesha man previously reported as missing in Green County with a possibly "altered mental state" was located in Waukesha, along with a pickup truck belonging to one of the victims. He was taken into custody as a "person of interest" in the homicides.
Jaren Michael Kuester, 31, was transferred to the Lafayette County Jail in Darlington at about 2 a.m. Monday, April 29, according to Lafayette County Sheriff Scott Pedley.
No charges are yet filed in the case, and few details have been released about the murders. The slayings were apparently committed at random. Kuester did not know the Thoresons "in advance," Pedley said. The case remains under investigation. Monday morning, a state crime lab trailer was parked outside Gary and Chloe Thoreson's home and the surrounding roads were blocked.
Citing a "huge volume" of evidence to comb through, Pedley said Tuesday morning he doesn't expect charges to be filed against Kuester until next week.
The Thoreson murders bring the total homicides in Lafayette County since September to seven. Armin Wand, Argyle, was recently sentenced to life in prison without chance for parole for the deaths of his three young sons in a Sept. 7 house fire. Danial D. Saalsaa, also of Argyle, was tentatively charged in late March with felony aggravated battery related to the death of his brother Aaron D. Saalsaa.
The Thoreson case "is more unexplainable than any of them," said Lafayette County supervisor Leon Wolfe. Still, he doesn't sense a crime trend in the area.
"I think it's just tragic coincidence," Wolfe said.
Fresh out of jail, no apparent motive
Before he came to this area, Kuester was bonded out of jail in Waukesha by an acquaintance Friday afternoon, according to Green County Sheriff Jeff Skatrud.
"He'd just been released from the jail, and ended up here a few hours later," Skatrud said. Kuester's vehicle was located in a field on County M in Cadiz Township in Green County the next day. It had been there since about 6 p.m. Friday, but the person who reported it initially didn't suspect anything out of the ordinary. "Turkey hunting is on," Skatrud said, and hunters often park vehicles offroad while they hunt.
Investigators soon discovered this wasn't a normal hunting scenario. Kuester had apparently walked away from the vehicle, discarding his clothing along the way. His path of travel was tracked to the area of Ridge Road and Smock Valley Road, about 1.5 miles from the vehicle, but he was not located. Marijuana paraphernalia was found in the vehicle, Skatrud said.
Kuester's family and friends told authorities they were concerned about his mental health and worried he could be a danger to himself, Skatrud said. There was, however, apparently no concern from those in contact with the sheriff's department that Kuester could be a danger to others.
A public emergency alert seeking Kuester went out Saturday night. Authorities believed Kuester was partially naked, in "an altered mental state, and may be disoriented."
Why Kuester was in the Green and Lafayette County area is unclear. "As far as I know, that's a mystery," Skatrud said.
The deaths of the Thoresons were discovered the next morning. A family member found one body, and two more were discovered at the residence after deputies responded to a call at 9:53 a.m. A blue 1998 Ford pickup truck registered to one of the Thoresons had been taken. The pickup truck was located hours later in Waukesha in a parking lot next to an apartment building where Kuester was also found and taken into custody.
State records show Kuester has had several criminal convictions in the last decade in Waukesha County, including battery and carrying a concealed weapon. His most recent criminal charges, at least in the state's circuit court system, date back more than six years.
Kuester was in jail last week after getting picked up on a warrant for obstructing an officer, according to Lt. Tom Wagner, Criminal Investigation Division at the Waukesha Police Department. Wagner did not return a call Monday for further details.
A 2000 article from The Racine Journal Times refers to Kuester as a wrestler from Waukesha North High School. Articles from 2009 on the news site U.S. Combat Sports describe Kuester as a middleweight Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fighter who went by moniker "The Hitman."
"The first round consisted of Kuester grounding and pounding (Kenny) Booker for nearly the entire five minutes. But in the middle of the second round, Booker was able to catch Kuester in a guillotine choke. Kuester was irate with himself after he submitted to Booker in round two," U.S. Combat Sports author Paul Fladten wrote of a 2009 match at the Kettle Moraine Ice Center in West Bend.
'Didn't have any enemies'
Neighbors and acquaintances remember the Thoresons as quiet, responsible farmers. Gary and Dean Thoreson, along with their surviving brother Everett, raised hogs and grew crops on 400 acres of this hilly land just north of South Wayne by the tiny town of Woodford in Wiota Township.
"It's just a tragedy. They were excellent farmers. They were excellent conservationists," said Leon Wolfe, a county supervisor who serves on the Land Conservation Committee.
The brothers won awards for their conservation work from Lafayette County in 1983 and 1984. Dean Thoreson, a county supervisor from 2002 to 2008, was also awarded in 2008 "for his efforts in conservation, not only on his farm, but through his involvement on the Land Conservation Committee," which he chaired.
"We thought very highly of Dean and his family," said Nikki Larson, administrative assistant with the Land Conservation Department.
The Thoresons worked with steep, difficult terrain but they made the best of it.
"They were responsible, conscientious farmers," Wolfe said. "They, as far as I know, didn't have any enemies."
Gary Thoreson was also a member of the Black Hawk School Board and Chloe Thoreson worked at Monroe Clinic for more than 20 years.
A neighbor on Philippine Road, Jack Wiegel, remembers seeing Gary and Chloe Thoreson go out for evening walks in the area. The couple mostly kept to themselves but came out to community events to socialize throughout the year, he said.
They recently returned from a vacation in California, where their daughter lives. The older brother, Dean, had been looking after the couple's home in their absence.
"Dean was supposed to be checking on the house," Wiegel said.
Like Wolfe, Wiegel is worried by the number of fatal crimes in Lafayette County in the past eight months but doesn't see a pattern of contributing circumstances.
"I hope things aren't getting worse," he said.
The bodies of Gary Thoreson, 70, and his wife Chloe Thoreson, 66, were discovered Sunday morning, April 28, at their home on Philippine Road, along with the body of Gary's brother and neighbor Dean Thoreson, 76.
By Sunday afternoon, a Waukesha man previously reported as missing in Green County with a possibly "altered mental state" was located in Waukesha, along with a pickup truck belonging to one of the victims. He was taken into custody as a "person of interest" in the homicides.
Jaren Michael Kuester, 31, was transferred to the Lafayette County Jail in Darlington at about 2 a.m. Monday, April 29, according to Lafayette County Sheriff Scott Pedley.
No charges are yet filed in the case, and few details have been released about the murders. The slayings were apparently committed at random. Kuester did not know the Thoresons "in advance," Pedley said. The case remains under investigation. Monday morning, a state crime lab trailer was parked outside Gary and Chloe Thoreson's home and the surrounding roads were blocked.
Citing a "huge volume" of evidence to comb through, Pedley said Tuesday morning he doesn't expect charges to be filed against Kuester until next week.
The Thoreson murders bring the total homicides in Lafayette County since September to seven. Armin Wand, Argyle, was recently sentenced to life in prison without chance for parole for the deaths of his three young sons in a Sept. 7 house fire. Danial D. Saalsaa, also of Argyle, was tentatively charged in late March with felony aggravated battery related to the death of his brother Aaron D. Saalsaa.
The Thoreson case "is more unexplainable than any of them," said Lafayette County supervisor Leon Wolfe. Still, he doesn't sense a crime trend in the area.
"I think it's just tragic coincidence," Wolfe said.
Fresh out of jail, no apparent motive
Before he came to this area, Kuester was bonded out of jail in Waukesha by an acquaintance Friday afternoon, according to Green County Sheriff Jeff Skatrud.
"He'd just been released from the jail, and ended up here a few hours later," Skatrud said. Kuester's vehicle was located in a field on County M in Cadiz Township in Green County the next day. It had been there since about 6 p.m. Friday, but the person who reported it initially didn't suspect anything out of the ordinary. "Turkey hunting is on," Skatrud said, and hunters often park vehicles offroad while they hunt.
Investigators soon discovered this wasn't a normal hunting scenario. Kuester had apparently walked away from the vehicle, discarding his clothing along the way. His path of travel was tracked to the area of Ridge Road and Smock Valley Road, about 1.5 miles from the vehicle, but he was not located. Marijuana paraphernalia was found in the vehicle, Skatrud said.
Kuester's family and friends told authorities they were concerned about his mental health and worried he could be a danger to himself, Skatrud said. There was, however, apparently no concern from those in contact with the sheriff's department that Kuester could be a danger to others.
A public emergency alert seeking Kuester went out Saturday night. Authorities believed Kuester was partially naked, in "an altered mental state, and may be disoriented."
Why Kuester was in the Green and Lafayette County area is unclear. "As far as I know, that's a mystery," Skatrud said.
The deaths of the Thoresons were discovered the next morning. A family member found one body, and two more were discovered at the residence after deputies responded to a call at 9:53 a.m. A blue 1998 Ford pickup truck registered to one of the Thoresons had been taken. The pickup truck was located hours later in Waukesha in a parking lot next to an apartment building where Kuester was also found and taken into custody.
State records show Kuester has had several criminal convictions in the last decade in Waukesha County, including battery and carrying a concealed weapon. His most recent criminal charges, at least in the state's circuit court system, date back more than six years.
Kuester was in jail last week after getting picked up on a warrant for obstructing an officer, according to Lt. Tom Wagner, Criminal Investigation Division at the Waukesha Police Department. Wagner did not return a call Monday for further details.
A 2000 article from The Racine Journal Times refers to Kuester as a wrestler from Waukesha North High School. Articles from 2009 on the news site U.S. Combat Sports describe Kuester as a middleweight Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fighter who went by moniker "The Hitman."
"The first round consisted of Kuester grounding and pounding (Kenny) Booker for nearly the entire five minutes. But in the middle of the second round, Booker was able to catch Kuester in a guillotine choke. Kuester was irate with himself after he submitted to Booker in round two," U.S. Combat Sports author Paul Fladten wrote of a 2009 match at the Kettle Moraine Ice Center in West Bend.
'Didn't have any enemies'
Neighbors and acquaintances remember the Thoresons as quiet, responsible farmers. Gary and Dean Thoreson, along with their surviving brother Everett, raised hogs and grew crops on 400 acres of this hilly land just north of South Wayne by the tiny town of Woodford in Wiota Township.
"It's just a tragedy. They were excellent farmers. They were excellent conservationists," said Leon Wolfe, a county supervisor who serves on the Land Conservation Committee.
The brothers won awards for their conservation work from Lafayette County in 1983 and 1984. Dean Thoreson, a county supervisor from 2002 to 2008, was also awarded in 2008 "for his efforts in conservation, not only on his farm, but through his involvement on the Land Conservation Committee," which he chaired.
"We thought very highly of Dean and his family," said Nikki Larson, administrative assistant with the Land Conservation Department.
The Thoresons worked with steep, difficult terrain but they made the best of it.
"They were responsible, conscientious farmers," Wolfe said. "They, as far as I know, didn't have any enemies."
Gary Thoreson was also a member of the Black Hawk School Board and Chloe Thoreson worked at Monroe Clinic for more than 20 years.
A neighbor on Philippine Road, Jack Wiegel, remembers seeing Gary and Chloe Thoreson go out for evening walks in the area. The couple mostly kept to themselves but came out to community events to socialize throughout the year, he said.
They recently returned from a vacation in California, where their daughter lives. The older brother, Dean, had been looking after the couple's home in their absence.
"Dean was supposed to be checking on the house," Wiegel said.
Like Wolfe, Wiegel is worried by the number of fatal crimes in Lafayette County in the past eight months but doesn't see a pattern of contributing circumstances.
"I hope things aren't getting worse," he said.