Medrano
Calling it one of the most heartbreaking scenes and situations he has seen in his career, Kenosha County District Attorney Michael Graveley asked for a $2.5 million bond for a 24-year-old man alleged to have killed his father and stepmother with a machete as they tried to prevent him from sexually assaulting a young relative on Wednesday.
Jesus V. Medrano III is expected to be charged with two counts of first-degree intentional homicide, attempted first-degree sexual assault and child abuse, Graveley said. At a hearing Thursday, a court commissioner set a temporary bond as the state is expected to formally file charges Friday.
Throughout the hearing Thursday, Medrano, who appeared to be wearing an anti-suicide smock, remained silent, his head bowed.
According to Graveley, Medrano lived with what the prosecutor described as Medrano’s blended family, including his father, stepmother, three young relatives, two aged 15 and one 10, and his own 6-year-old daughter at a home in the 900 block of 48th Street.
Kenosha Police were called to the house at 4:30 a.m. Wednesday for a report of a possible sex crime and found that the panicked children had run to a neighbor’s home for help, the neighbor calling police.
When officers went into the family’s home, they found the parents dead. Police had not yet released the victims’ names as of Thursday afternoon.
Medrano, who had fled and run to a neighbor’s home several blocks away, was quickly found by police. “He was intercepted by a uniformed officer who saw him with the machete still in his hand, and the officer describes him as covered with blood,” Graveley said.
According to Graveley, Medrano attempted to get the officer to shoot him, but police were able to take him into custody without doing so.
“I’m not sure I have been in a more heartbreaking scene than this particular residence or been a party to more heartbreaking reports than the surviving children in this case, at least one of whom is literally orphaned by this,” Graveley said.
Admits to planned assault
According to Graveley, Medrano told police he had intended that night to sexually assault one of the young relatives. The girl slept in the bedroom next to his, sharing the room with a sibling.
Graveley said Medrano told police he brought a sock with him to keep the girl from being able to make a sound, and a machete in case anyone tried to stop him. Graveley said the girl woke up with Medrano on top of her. “The only thing she remembers him saying was to shut up,” Graveley said. She began to try to call for help and when she did, the prosecutor said, Medrano began to strangle her.
Her struggles woke up the other girl, who called out for help.
“The father arrives at the threshold of the room where this assault is actually taking place, when the father arrives he yells ‘what is going on,’” Graveley said. “The defendant indicates nothing is happening … the defendant says as soon as he could see that the father did not believe it, he immediately stabbed the father in the stomach.”
Gravely said Medrano then struck another blow with the machete, this one nearly severing his 49-year-old father’s arm.
The stepmother, 36, then ran into the room. “The defendant indicates he jumped over the body of (his father) and then stabbed her,” Graveley said. The wound severed her femoral artery.
“Both of these parents were screaming for the other children or to call the police, including the sexual assault victim, to flee the residence,” Graveley said.
The three older children fled , climbing out a window and running to a neighbor’s house. “The 6-year-old, who witnessed the vast majority of what I just described and had to recount that to law enforcement” remained in the house.
Graveley said Medrano fled the house and ran to a relative’s home. The parents barricaded themselves in a bedroom where they bled to death, Graveley said.
No previous record
According to statements in court, Medrano had no previous criminal record and worked at a Walmart store. He has lived in Kenosha for about eight years.
Kenosha County Court Commissioner Larry Keating called the allegations “nothing short of grisly” and “vicious,” agreeing to set the temporary bond at $2.5 million.
Graveley said he expects to file charges Friday. Bond will then be formally set at Medrano’s initial appearance on those charges.
If convicted of first degree homicide and the other charges, Medrano faces a mandatory life sentence.
Man accused of killing sister held for trial tops recent notable crime-related news in Madison area
Madison man accused of killing sister held for trial
A Madison police detective testified Monday that a dispute over several inoperable vehicles might have led to the fatal shooting last year of a 63-year-old Madison woman by her mentally ill brother.
Joseph G. Green, 58, was ordered to stand trial for the murder of his sister, Sheila M. Green, on Christmas Eve. Under questioning from Assistant District Attorney William Brown during a Monday morning preliminary hearing, Madison police Detective Justine Harris outlined surveillance video and other evidence suggesting Green drove a motorcycle from his Sawyer Terrace apartment to his sister’s home on South Midvale Boulevard about three miles away, shot her multiple times, called 911, then drove back to his apartment where he dumped a .380-caliber handgun into a dumpster.
2 in car critically injured in crash when distracted driver runs milk truck through stop sign, Grant County authorities say
Two people in a car were critically injured in a crash Wednesday when a distracted driver ran a stop sign in a milk truck, the Grant County Sheriff’s Office reported.
The crash happened about 11:30 a.m. Wednesday on Highway 18 at Highway G in the town of Wingville, Sheriff Nathan Dreckman said in a report.
Investigators determined that Tyler Holthaus, 30, of Glen Haven, was driving a 2012 Freightliner milk truck south on Highway G when he told deputies that he looked down at an electronic device and didn't see the stop sign. Holthaus drove his truck through the intersection and struck a 2021 Subaru that was heading west on Highway 18, Dreckman said.
2 men arrested after locking another man in basement, Madison police say
Two men were arrested Friday after allegedly locking another man in a basement on the East Side, Madison police said.
Officers responded to a disturbance in the 2800 block of Dahle Street around 2:30 a.m., police spokesperson Tyler Grigg said in a statement.
A woman told police she escaped the two men — Jonathan Schaaf, 29, and Anthony Scheppers, 52, — while they drove her around in a vehicle, Grigg said.
Update: Area cleared after Madison police find no explosives in car on Near West Side
Madison police have cleared the area after blocking off part of a street on the Near West Side Monday evening to investigate a vehicle with "suspicious material" inside, Lt. Eugene Woehrle said.
Woehrle said the 1700 block of Jefferson Street near Vilas Park was closed for several hours out of an "abundance of caution" after the suspicious vehicle was reported. The street was opened back shortly after 8 p.m. when police determined that no hazardous materials were in the car.
Update: 2 dead bodies found in town of Sun Prairie home; Dane County investigating
The Dane County Sheriff’s Office is investigating after two bodies were found Monday in a home in the town of Sun Prairie, authorities said.
The deaths were reported at 3:22 p.m. Monday in the 4600 block of Pierceville Road, Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Elise Schaffer said Monday. Officers were still on the scene Monday night.
Deputies and police officers entered the home and found the two bodies. The Dane County Sheriff’s Office did not release information on the identities of the individuals, how they died or how authorities were notified about them.
Madison police investigating after man found dead in Far East Side park
Madison police said Monday that a man was found dead Saturday morning in Reindahl Park on the city’s Far East Side.
Madison police and fire crews responded shortly after 8:30 a.m. Saturday after witnesses who were out for a morning walk through the park in the 1800 block of Portage Road discovered a body at the bottom of a small hill near the bike path, officer Tyler Grigg said.
Former state probation agent charged with sexual assault for alleged inappropriate relationship with parolee
A former state probation agent has been charged with sexual assault after police said they found she had a sexual relationship with a parolee who was under her supervision.
A criminal complaint filed last week charged Meredith J. Wachtendonk, 29, of Verona, who abruptly quit her job with the state Department of Corrections in September, with second-degree sexual assault by a probation agent. The complaint states Wachtendonk quit after she reported to her supervisors receiving a phone call from a woman accusing Wachtendonk of helping someone under her supervision sell and transport drugs.
Family sues over cold weather death of Georgia man who left Madison Veterans Hospital
The family of a Georgia veteran who died in Madison nearly three years ago when he wandered away from the Veterans Hospital in bitterly cold temperatures filed a lawsuit Tuesday against the federal government, alleging the hospital’s negligence led to the man’s death.
The adult children of Vance Perry Sr. sued the federal government in the Madison-based U.S. District Court of Western Wisconsin after the 57-year-old mentally ill man walked away from the Department of Veterans Affairs hospital on the Near West Side and was eventually found dead in a Downtown parking garage.
Catalytic converter thief caught on home security camera on Near East Side, Madison police say
A catalytic converter thief was caught in action by a home security camera on the Near East Side on Tuesday, Madison police reported.
The incident happened about 2 a.m. in the 600 block of S Dickinson Street, officer Tyler Grigg said in a report.
A homeowner woke up to notifications on his phone showing a car stopping next to his 2007 Toyota Prius. The thief cut off the car’s catalytic converter in about 90 seconds, Grigg said.
2 killed in head-on collision on Highway 69 in town of Montrose, Sheriff's Office says
Two drivers were killed in a head-on collision Wednesday on Highway 69 in the town of Montrose, the Dane County Sheriff’s Office said.
According to the Sheriff’s Office:
A 2001 Ford Escape was travelling south on Highway 69 in the north lanes when it clipped the rear driver-side tail light of a pick-up truck as the truck attempted to avoid collision.
