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Former Wisconsin judge John Roemer was named as the victim killed in a Friday attack by a man with a hit list reportedly “related to the judicial system.”
Law enforcement officials confirmed to The Daily Beast that Roemer, 68, was found zip-tied to a chair and fatally shot at his home in New Lisbon, Wisconsin around 10:17 a.m. on Friday.
The Juneau County Sheriff’s Office were responding to reports of gunshots in the area at around 6:30 a.m. and found an unidentified male walking around inside Roemer’s house who they attempted to negotiate with. When that was unsuccessful they entered the home and found a 56-year-old man in the basement with what appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound. He was taken to a local hospital and is in a critical condition.
The murder was reportedly a targeted act, with police finding a hit list that included Roemer as well as a handful of other influential government officials like Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, and Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers.
Former Judge Gunned Down in Wisconsin by Man With ‘Hit List’
The investigation underway is being handled as a homicide as well as a potential domestic terrorism case.
“This does appear to be a targeted act, and the individual who’s a suspect appears to have had other targets as well, it appears to be related to the judicial system,” Attorney General Josh Kaul told reporters on Friday afternoon.
Kaul said that all people named on the hit list have been informed.
Retired Judge John Roemer.
Photo Illustration by Luis G. Rendon/The Daily Beast/Wisconsin State Legislature
Donna Voss, one of the late Roemer’s next door neighbors, woke up Friday morning to police cars camped outside of their houses.
“My husband and I, we were going to go down the street to our garage sale,” Voss told local Madison reporters. “Next thing I know I got a call from Juneau County Police saying we need to stay in the house, lock all the doors.”
Though Voss doesn’t remember speaking to Roemer all that often, she does say he was “a really nice guy.” The neighbors would stop to chat as the judge “mowed his yard or walked his dogs.”
“We’d stop and talk and that was about it,” she said, mourning the judge.
Tragically, Roemer’s wife and one of his sons also recently passed away. His other two sons lived with him in Wisconsin, Voss told reporters. One of his sons might have been a witness to the fatal shooting, ABC reports.
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