Michigan man charged with killing 65-year-old Green Bay man in August

Doug Schneider, Green Bay Press-Gazette
·2 min read

GREEN BAY - The Green Bay man slain in his apartment in August was stabbed dozens of times by a man who had placed a personal ad designed to lure a person whose car he hoped to steal, according to a criminal complaint filed Thursday in Brown County Circuit Court.

Green Bay police say Caleb Anderson, 24, of Caspian, Michigan, stabbed Patrick Ernst, 65, of Green Bay approximately 50 times in the neck, face, stomach and upper extremities before stealing Ernst's car, according to a 16-page complaint charging Anderson with first-degree intentional homicide.

Anderson then scrawled an apparent apology note for the killing on a chair in Ernst's apartment at a Packerland Drive complex, the complaint said, and drove the stolen car to Alabama.

"I am so sorry he didn't deserve this," the note read.

The note was near Ernst's body, which bore numerous stab wounds, according to the complaint. Blood was visible throughout the apartment.

He also wrote "R.I.P." and a religious saying on a bedroom wall.

Patrick Ernst
Patrick Ernst

According to the criminal complaint:

  • On Aug. 1, Anderson attacked a woman jogging along a road in Michigan. He told police he struck the woman a couple times and at one point had her in a choke hold, but let her go.

  • On Aug. 2, Green Bay police were asked to check the welfare of Ernst, who had not shown up for his scheduled work shift Aug. 2 after taking a vacation day on Aug. 1.

  • Officers found the body of Ernst, an avid collector of bobbleheads and other sports memorabilia, in his apartment on Aug. 2. Police believe Anderson had taken Ernst's Ford Fiesta from a space in the complex's parking lot; a Toyota Camry registered to Anderson was parked in the vicinity, police said.

  • Anderson told investigators he left Green Bay for Lucedale, Alabama.

  • The complaint says Anderson later killed another man in Alabama, using the same dating app to lure a second man into meeting at his house.

Earlier this week Anderson pleaded not guilty to a charge involving the killing of an Alabama man, Dwight Dixon, within days of Ernst's slaying.

Contact Doug Schneider at (920) 265-2070, or DSchneid@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @PGDougSchneider.

This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Michigan man charged with killing Patrick Ernst, 65, of Green Bay