Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
By RALPH ANSAMI
Hurley — Jurors in the Iron County murder trial of Richard Allen and Joseph Lussier will return Monday morning to receive instructions and listen to closing statements before issuing a final verdict.
After five days of the trial, Iron County Judge Patrick Madden excused the 14-person jury for the weekend at 2 p.m. Friday after the defense called only one witness.
Madden said he wouldn’t hold the jury through a late Friday night session.
The state’s case against the two men charged with the execution-type killing of Lac du Flambeau tribal member Wayne Valliere Jr. wrapped up Friday around 12:30 p.m.
Joseph Lussier, 27, and Allen, 28, are charged with murder and hiding a corpse in the shooting death on Dec. 22 in a remote area near Mercer. The body was found on New Year’s day.
Valliere was killed because he was supposedly believed to be a drug informant, although there was no testimony in the trial backing that claim.
Lussier’s defense attorney, Craig Haukaas, called Randy Burgess to the stand Friday afternoon. Burgess said Emanuel Reyes, who had testified earlier in the trial about a supposed jailhouse confession, was “grimy” and dishonest. He also said, “Manny likes to gossip,” but didn’t talk about this case.
Reyes had said he would do anything to get out of the Vilas County Jail, said Burgess, who has been convicted of six crimes.
Burgess, under tight security in the courtroom, approached Lussier to view some tattoos on his face, including one that was apparently added after his initial apprehension for the murder.
Earlier Friday, Wisconsin Department of Justice Division of Criminal Investigation special agent Mike Reimer was the last of about 58 witnesses called by assistant Attorneys General Richard Dufour and Chad Verbeten.
Reimer, the lead investigator for the DCI, told how what started as a missing person case turned into a murder investigation after Christmas. Reimer said Valliere had been gone before, but would never miss Christmas.
Also charged with being parties to the crime of the murder are James Lussier, 19, of Woodruff; Evan T. Oungst, 28, of Arbor Vitae, and Curtis Wolfe, 26, of Lac du Flambeau.
Reimer backed up previous testimony from various witnesses and mentioned a Facebook photo of Joseph Lussier, Allen, James Lussier and an unknown person.
Reimer told the jury about first interviewing Clint Eades Jr., who previously testified he was told of events of the murder on Swamp Creek Road, where Valliere was shot.
Reimer also described receiving evidence from the scene and offered a time-table for the trip from Lac du Flambeau to the crime scene and back, by way of Park Falls.
Forensic pathologist Dr. Michael Stier testified Tuesday cause of death was from “multiple firearm injuries,” with six shots to the back, two to the neck and one to the head.
James Lussier entered into a plea agreement to get a more lenient sentence, he admitted during testimony on Thursday.
During a break in the trial Friday morning, Wayne Valliere Sr. and other tribal members said the Lussiers were not members of the tribe, as the Daily Globe previously reported. Valliere Sr. said the two brothers had been banned from the reservation. Testimony in the trial placed them in the Lake of the Torches casino.
Asked how they could have been in the tribal casino if banned, Valliere Sr. responded to a reporter, “That’s a good question.”
The latest address for Allen is a facility in Boscobel and Joseph Lussier’s is listed as the Gren Bay prison.
On Friday morning, George Armstrong III, of Woodruff, said James Lussier had told him of the crime. He said the two were smoking pot in his basement when James Lussier told him Valliere was dead.
Armstrong said he was told Allen shot Valliere first and then Joseph Lussier put six bullets into Valliere’s back.
Armstrong admitted to his own frequent use of meth, pot and Percoset.
There was also Friday testimony from DCI photographers and investigators about the scene of the crime and evidence obtained from the red Town and Country van used in the killing.
DCI special agent Shane Heiser testified about a red bandana used to wrap the gun and the fact he was told Allen referred to it as “Baby.” James Lussier said Allen had referred to the weapon as “Baby” or “Baby Boy.”
Larissa Davila said it was her van, but owned by her mother. She said all of the defendants had been in the van before Dec. 22.
Madden said Thursday he wouldn’t hold the jury for deliberations over the weekend, if it came to that point. He joked Friday they were now able to run today’s Paavo Nurmi Marathon.
