Murders, OWI crashes, fatal overdoses in Waupaca County
By Robert Cloud
The Waupaca County Post covered nearly a dozen local homicide cases in 2023.
Among the deaths last year were drunken driving fatalities, a toddler’s accidental death, two men who murdered their parents and a weeklong jury trial.
Drug overdoses were a leading cause of death resulting in homicide charges, due to the growing use of toxic blends of heroin, fentanyl and methamphetmine .
December
Scott C. Farmer, 47, Neenah, was charged with four counts of homicide by intoxicated use of a vehicle, a fifth offense of operating while under the influence, and operating while revoked causing death.
The driver of the SUV, Daniel Gonzalez, 25, was critically injured and succumbed to his injuries after he was transported to a hospital for medical treatment.
His siblings – 9-year-old Daniella, 14-year-old Lillian and 23-year-old Fabian – died at the scene.
Farmer is currently in custody on a $750,000 cash bond. He is scheduled for an adjourned initial appearance in court on Jan. 25.
According to the criminal complaint, Farmer collided head-on with an oncoming sports utility vehicle while driving a pickup truck westbound in the eastbound lane of U.S. Highway 10.
Joseph D. Charlesworth, 34, Appleton, and Sonnie Jo Meier, 31, Waupaca, were charged with first-degree reckless homicide following the drug overdose death of 27-year-old Jeremyah Zander on July 7.
They are accused of selling methamphetamine and fentanyl to the victim.
Charlesworth is in custody in Outagamie County on a $500,000 cash bond and Meier is in Waupaca County jail on a $150,000 cash bond.
On Dec. 7, Judge Vicki Clussman dismissed charges of felony child neglect against an Iola couple whose 2-year-old daughter died in the slats of a homemade bed.
Cody Deschler and Emily Ferg, of Iola, were charged with neglecting a child-consequence is death for the June 12 incident involving their daughter, Cyrilla.
Clussman said she did not find probable cause and that state had not met the burden of proof,
November
Evan Barnick, 20, Oshkosh, was charged with homicide by intoxicated use of a vehicle, hit-and-run involving death, first-degree reckless endangerment, a third OWI, operating while revoked and operating a vehicle without a court-ordered ignition interlocking device.
He is accused of hitting 77-year-old Gerald Pagel, of New London, was helping a woman whose vehicle had just struck a deer around midnight on Oct. 29.
They were standing on the side of County Trunk W at Brehmer Road in the town of Caledonia when Barnick’s vehicle struck Pagel.
Barnick is in custody on a $150,000 cash bond and scheduled for a hearing on Jan. 22.
September
Jordan D. Peters, 19, Clintonville, was charged with first-degree intentional homicide.
Peters is accused of stabbing his mother, Angela S. Zahn, 39, Neenah, while she was driving them in Clintonville on Sept. 4.
Zahn called 911 to report her own stabbing. Dispatch reported hearing her moan.
Officers found her lying beside her car in a fetal position on Memorial Drive in Olen Park. Peters was standing nearby.
Peters reportedly told officers he had been thinking about hurting his mother for the past year.
He is currently in custody on a $1 million cash bond and scheduled to appear in court for a status conference on Jan. 10.
July
After a jury convicted William Zelenski, 47, Waupaca, of first-degree intentional homicide, Judge Raymond Huber sentenced him to life in prison.
Zelenski killed Ryelee Manente-Powell with a 12-gauge, double-barrelled shotgun on the night of Oct. 19, 2020.
Zelenski confronted Manente-Powell on a city street in Waupaca because he stole exotic reptiles from Zelenski’s home prior to the shooting.
The victim was 18 years old and the son of Zelenski’s girlfriend, Tiffany Powell, 36, who convicted of first-degree reckless endangerment with a weapon and felon in possession of a firearm for her role in the fatal shooting. She was sentenced to 10 years in prison.
At the time of his death, Manente-Powell was the father of a 2-year-old son.
Zelenski’s case drew national attention.
June
Sawyer D. Mortensen, 22, Iola, was charged with first-degree reckless homicide as party to a crime.
Mortensen is accused of giving Trevor T. Hanson, 27, town of Union, a ride to Milwaukee to purchase drugs on March 24.
An autopsy found that Hanson’s “cause of death was related to cocaine, diazepam, fentanyl, heroin and xylazine toxicity.”
Mortensen was released from custody after posting a $10,000 cash bond. He is scheduled to appear in court for a status conference on Jan. 10.
May
A driver who was a teen when involved in a fatal crash three years earlier was convicted of homicide by negligent operation of a vehicle.
Outagamie County Judge Vincent Biskupic placed Logan P. Stedjee, 20, Clintonville, on five years of probation.
According to the initial criminal complaint, Stedjee sent a Facebook message threatening to kill himself minutes before he was in a fatal crash around 11 a.m. Saturday, May 30, 2020, in the town of Bear Creek.
Witnesses said Stedjee was driving at 90-100 mph westbound on County Trunk D.
He crossed U.S. Highway 45, then slammed into a pickup truck traveling eastbound on County Trunk O, killing Robin S, Runge, 67, of Montello.
Stedjee was initially charged with first-degree reckless homicide, which carries a 40-60 year prison sentence.
On Aug. 15, 2022, Waupaca County Judge Troy Nielsen amended the sole charge to homicide by negligent operation of a vehicle, which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.
An ongoing investigation of the incident found that the transition from County D to County O at U.S. Highway 45 is offset, which combined with high speed, a driver with limited experience and his emotional state would have an impact on how the crash played out, according to prosecutors.
At the time of the crash Stedjee was the victim of an online extortion scam.
March
Erik T. Metzig, 25, Fremont, was charged in Winnebago County with two counts of first-degree intentional homicide.
He was accused of killing his parents, David Metzig, 72, and Jan Metzig, 71. They were owners of Union Star Cheese Factory near Fremont.
Deputies found the Metzigs “in their bedroom, covered in blankets, with bags over their heads, and deceased from apparent gunshot wounds,” the criminal complaint says.
They also found an AR-platform rifle with a loaded magazine on the kitchen table.
Investigators found blood, as well as bloody glasses and David Metzig’s checkbook and wallet in a pile of clothes in the garage. Nearby, they found a 9mm handgun in a garbage bag.
Metzig, who remains in custody on a $1 million cash bond, has entered a plea of not guilty by reason of mental disease. The case is still pending.
February
Tyler J. Allen, 27, Pulaski, was charged in Waupaca County Circuit Court with first-degree reckless homicide, delivery of fentanyl and felony bail jumping.
Allen allegedly sold the drugs that caused the overdose death of Leland S. Kroening, 42, Clintonville.
Wehn officers found Kroening’s body on Aug. 2, 2022, they also found a cellphone and a plastic bag with white powder that tested positive for methamphetamine and fentanyl.
On the cellphone, investigators discovered evidence of text messages involving a drug deal between Allen and Kroening.
An autopsy indicated that a toxic mix of fetanyl and ethanol were the cause of death.
Allen is in custody on a $100,000 cash bond. His case is still pending.
January
Daniel Stuebs, 38, Weyauwega, was charged with first-degree reckless homicide, delivery of cocaine, possession of cocaine and possession of drug paraphernalia. Summer R. Preuss, 25, Shawano, was charged with first-degree reckless homicide as party to a crime.
On April 3, 2022, officers found Derrick J. Pagel, 27, Royalton, deceased at his home in the town of Royalton.
Investigators also found drugs at the scene and the medical examiner reported that cocaine and fentanyl were the cause of death,
An examination of Pagel’s cellphone found messages allegedly arranging for a drug deal between Pagel and Stuebs.
Stuebs reportedly told the detectives that he owed Pagel money and repaid him with “dope because he got a cheaper price in Milwaukee.”
Preuss told detectives that she and Stuebs made trips together to Milwaukee, where they purchased heroin and crack.
She was allegedly with Stuebs when he dropped off the drugs in Pagel’s mailbox.
Stuebs is scheduled for a plea/sentencing hearing on Jan. 11, 2024. He is currently incarcerated at Dodge Correctional Institution in Waupun for other drug-related crimes.
Preuss is scheduled for a plea/sentencing hearing on Jan. 19, 2024. She is currently incarcerated at Taycheedah Correctional Institution in Fond du Lac for other drug-related crimes.