Son of Union Star cheesemakers pleads not guilty after notebook entered into evidence at Monday hearing
OSHKOSH – The State of Wisconsin found probable cause for felony charges against Erik Metzig, Court Commissioner Eric Heywood said at a preliminary hearing Monday at the Winnebago County Courthouse.
Metzig, 25, faces two counts of first-degree intentional homicide in the killing of his parents David and Jan Metzig, longtime owners of Union Star Cheese Factory in the unincorporated community of Zittau, southeast of Fremont.
At Monday's hearing, prosecuting attorney Adam Joseph Levin called Detective Ryan Hathaway from the Winnebago County Sheriff's Office as a witness. Hathaway said he was dispatched to the scene after the deaths were reported and arrived around 9 a.m. March 18 at the Metzigs' home in the town of Wolf River.
Hathaway said first responders had found a "substantial" amount of blood in the master bedroom, where David and Jan were found on the floor on either side of their bed with gunshot wounds and covered in blankets and garbage bags.
Much of the hearing focused on where blood spatters were found at the scene: in a garbage bag full of clothing in the garage, on the porch and on three pairs of glasses. Some red smears were also found in the lining of Erik's car.
According to the criminal complaint, an unidentified witness accompanied officers to the home on the day of the murder. That person said at the time that Erik lived with David and Jan and should be home, but Erik and his car were gone.
At the hearing, Hathaway said "multiple" members of the family told officers the empty garage stall was where Erik would regularly park his car.
Upon searching the Metzigs' home, officers found a loaded AR platform rifle on the kitchen table and a 9mm Glock handgun in the garbage, the complaint said. The Glock's registration was traceable to Erik, Hathaway said. In a bedroom believed to be Erik's, they also found a spiral notebook with written plans for David and Jan's murder.
The notebook was entered into evidence as the first exhibit. At the hearing, Hathaway revealed one of the pages expressed a desire to kill David and Jan. The journal's writer had plans detailed in bullet points for the murder, wanting to "cause an accident" while David and Jan were on a walk. The writer also believed the motives were justified, but Hathaway did not say why.
As the hearing continued, defense attorney Scott Ceman cross-examined Hathaway. The detective could not say definitively whether the Glock was the murder weapon, nor could he identify the handwriting in the journal as Erik's. Ceman also objected to admitting the journal as evidence, but the judge allowed it to remain after Ceman's cross-examination.
After about 45 minutes of hearing the state's evidence and Hathaway's testimony, County Commissioner Eric Heywood found that the state of Wisconsin had established probable cause for the murder with the evidence initially laid out in the criminal complaint.
Erik Metzig pled not guilty and was bound over for trial. His next court date is scheduled for 2 p.m. May 30 in Winnebago County Circuit Court, Branch 4.
Rebecca Loroff is a breaking and trending news reporter for USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin. Contact her at rloroff@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Oshkosh Northwestern: Erik Metzig heads to trial, pleads not guilty in Union Star murder
