Wisconsin man who killed three of his own family members and a 24-year-old woman before taking his own life may have been trying to imitate abduction of Jayme Closs, say police
Ritchie German Jr., 34, killed three of his family members at their home in Lafayette, Wisconsin on or before Saturday
Ritchie whose family said had been suffering from bipolar disorder, shot and killed his 66-year-old mother, Bridget German, brother Douglas, 32, and his brother’s 8-year-old son Calvin Harris.
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He then drove to another family’s home about 10 miles away in Lake Hallie where he shot and killed Laila Vang on Sunday
He used a shotgun to blast his way inside that home before killing 24-year-old Laile and wounding her parents Teng and Mai Chang Vang
Police believe the woman’s death has similarities to the kidnapping of 13-year-old Jayme Closs from her family’s home in Barron, which is 45 miles away
Jayme’s attacker killed her parents in their home before abducting the teenager and holding her hostage for months before she managed to escape
Killer: Ritchie German Jr., [photo], is believed to have killed three of his family members and later killed Laile Vang and wounding her parents Teng and Mai Chang Vang, at another home Chippewa Falls in Wisconsin on Sunday
Ritchie German Jr., 34, killed three of his family members – his mother, brother and 8-year-old nephew at their home in Lafayette, likely on or before Saturday morning,
On Sunday night, he drove about 10 miles to the Lake Hallie home of another family and shot them.
German blasted his way inside with a shotgun, before shooting dead 24-year-old Laile Vang and wounding her parents Teng and Mai Chang Vang. He then killed himself in the home, where several others were hiding, Chippewa County Sheriff Jim Kowalczyk said at a news conference.
Investigators believe Vang’s death bore similarities to the kidnapping of 13-year-old Jayme Closs from her family’s home in Barron, which is 45 miles away, in October 2018.
Chippewa County Sheriff Jim Kowalczyk revealed on Tuesday that German left his car running with items inside that suggested similarities to the Closs case.
Jayme’s attacker, Jake Patterson, killed her parents in her home before abducting the teenager and holding her hostage for months before she managed to escape.
Investigators believe Vang’s death bore similarities to the kidnapping of 13-year-old Jayme Closs [left] from her family’s home in Barron, Wisconsin in October 2018.
The attacker Jake Patterson [right], who is now serving a life sentence, killed Jayme’s parents in their home before abducting the teen
Ritchie German Jr., who took his own life after he committed the other homicides, authorities said earlier shot and killed his 66-year-old mother, Bridget German. He also shot his 32-year-old brother Douglas and his brother’s 8-year-old son Calvin Harris. he then drove 10 miles to the home of a family he apparently didn’t know, where he fatally shot And 24-year-old Laile Vang. He also shot and injured her mother and father of Laile, Mai Chang and Teng Vang.
According to the Sheriff’s department, the crime scenes German left are horrific in nature.
Chippewa County Sheriff James Kowalczyk said the killing spree began when German fatally shot his mother, Bridget, in the head at their Lafayette home’s bathroom and dragged her into another room in the basement.
Next he shot both his brother and his nephew once in the head, put them together in a sleeping bag and dragged them into an empty bedroom where it is thought German had stayed a day or two, Sheriff Kowalczyk said.
Authorities previously believed those shootings occurred just before the Lake Hallie home shootings, but it is now believed that crime began one, two or more days before.
Authorities said Ritchie German had traded text messages with Vang [photo], prior to her death but she apparently didn’t know him. He had texted her inquiring about a personal relationship, but she texted back ‘who is this? I don’t know you’
Despite the apparent similarities in the attacks, Kowalczyk said authorities may never know exactly what led German to kill.
‘What was the motive? Why did this happen? I don’t have the answer,’ he said.
Authorities said German had traded text messages with Vang but she apparently didn’t know him.
He had texted her inquiring about a personal relationship, but she texted back ‘who is this? I don’t know you’.
The sheriff said there was no evidence German had ever met Vang.
German had earlier shot dead three members of his family at their Lafayette town house.
Kowalczyk said German’s mother was supposed to clock in at work at a grocery store on Lake Wissota on Saturday but didn’t call or show up. Later that evening, after the grocery store’s staff called inquiring about Bridget’s whereabouts, German called in and said his mother was sick and in the hospital..
Later Saturday when friends of his nephew arrived at the Lafayette home asking whether Calvin was home, German said that he was away shopping with his grandmother, Kowalczyk said.
Authorities went to the Lafayette home initially to inquire about why German’s brother’s car was at the Lake Hallie crime scene.
Police only found the bodies of his three relatives after first investigating the young woman’s slaying.
They had gone to the town house to inform them German had taken his own life in the attack.
German who occasionally lived with the family members he killed in Lafayette, late Sunday took his brother’s vehicle, left it running outside of the Lake Hallie home, shot the door in with a shotgun and started shooting the family members he encountered, police said Tuesday.
Ritchie German used a shotgun to blast his way into the 24-year-old woman’s home in Lake Hallie at about 10.30pm before shooting and wounding her parents. He then took his own life inside the home
Three members of German’s were found dead at this Lafayette residence early on July 29, after authorities attempted to make contact with the members of the Vang family victims of another shooting just hours earlier
As investigators try to establish a motive for the killings, the Chippewa County Sheriff Jim Kowalczyk revealed on Tuesday that German, whom he f described as ‘a loner and drifter’ who was often unemployed, had traded text messages with the Laila Vang but she apparently didn’t know him.
The suspect’s father, Ritchie German Sr., told the Star Tribune that he was shocked to learn of the killings, while revealing that his son had struggled with mental illness – possibly bipolar disorder and schizophrenia.
He said his son lived with him from 2005 to 2014 and worked for just one year during that time at a Menards warehouse.
He said his son stayed in his bedroom most of that time.
‘I told his mother to get him help,’ said German Sr., who had been estranged from his family since divorcing his wife in 2015.
German Sr. said his son had once pulled a shotgun on his brother in about 2005 or 2006 but no one was injured.
He was sentenced to probation after being bailed out of jail by his father.
Some of Vang’s friends paid tribute to the slain woman on social media on Tuesday, saying she was a sweet and genuine person who died at the hands of gun violence.
‘The world will never be the same without you. Thank you for being a friend to me when I needed you in high school, I deeply cherish the times we confided in each other and sought to make sense of this wild experience we call life,’ one friend wrote on Instagram.
Chippewa County Sheriff Jim Kowalczyk [photo] addressing media on Tuesday said the suspect, – ‘a loner and drifter’ who was often unemployed’ – had traded text messages with the woman he killed but she apparently didn’t know him
Jayme Closs was abducted from her parents’ home on Oct. 15, 2018, in Barron. She eventually escaped her abductor, Jake Patterson, who was sentenced to life in prison in May for kidnapping the 13-year-old and killing her parents.
The killer blasted his way into the victims’ home in Lake Hallie, with a shotgun on Sunday night before shooting dead 24-year-old Laile Vang [right] and wounding her parents Teng and Mai Chang Vang [left]
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