Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
By RALPH ANSAMI
Hurley — Two men who were convicted Monday afternoon of the execution-style killing of Lac du Flambeau tribal member Wayne Valliere Jr. were sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
A 12-person Iron County jury deliberated for about an hour and a half before finding Joseph Lussier, 27, and Richard Allen, 28, guilty of murder with the use of a gun and hiding a corpse in the Dec. 22 shooting death in a remote area on Swamp Creek Road near Mercer.
Iron County Judge Patrick Madden then sentenced the two.
“He truly was loved by many people,” said the victim’s father, Wayne Valliere Sr. He apologized for a courtroom-wide outburst after the verdict was announced, but added he couldn’t understand “people who don’t have remorse for taking a human life.”
Allen shot Valliere Jr. three times and Lussier fired six shots into his back following a drug-fueled ride.
Valliere Sr. described the torment that went through his family when his son went missing and his body wasn’t found until New Year’s day.
“My son was dragged into the woods like a piece of garbage,” he said.
“Everybody here (in the courtroom) is forever changed,” Valliere Sr. said. “This has been the lowest point in my life. The happiest was when my son was born.”
“Drugs and violence have taken our communities over,” said the victim’s uncle, Leon Valliere, who sat through the entire trial, as did many Lac du Flambeau tribal members. He said Wayne Valliere had his problems, but seemed about to turn around his life.
The victim’s girlfriend, Iris Carufel, eloquently spoke about how the two had planned to wed in October. As she struggled to cope with her loss over the past several months, she said, “The one person I wanted to hold me wasn’t there.”
Allen addressed Valliere’s family before he was sentenced, saying he isn’t heartless. “I feel for you guys every day. I’m ashamed of myself,” he said.
“Drugs **** people’s lives,” he said.
Allen’s mother apologized, saying the murder had split the Indian community. She said her son suffered throughout his life from being bullied about an illness that left him bald at an early age.
Lussier said, “Give me what I’ve got coming.”
Madden said Lussier was “a leader, but you’ve led (people) down the wrong path.”
“Meth is death,” the judge said twice in pronouncing sentencing, calling the crimes “egregious.”
“You killed him and left him in the woods, knowing he’d be preyed upon by animals,” Madden said.
In addition to the life sentences, both men, who had already been serving prison terms, were sentenced to 11 years for hiding a corpse.
The jury asked to see several exhibits before coming up with its verdict at 2:05 p.m., after listening to about 58 witnesses for the state in five days and one witness for the defense.
Valliere Jr. was killed because he was believed to be a drug informant, although assistant Attorney General Richard Dufour said in his closing remarks that there was no evidence he was a “snitch,” a term used in the trial.
Attorneys for the defendants, James Lex and Craig Haukaas, said many of the witnesses lied. The attorneys attempted to discount a supposed jailhouse confession made to a third inmate.
In a jail phone conversation, which was recorded, Allen was referred to as a “demon,” meaning killer, and there was a reference of police going door-to-door looking for a “ghost,” or dead person.
There was testimony that Lussier had a teardrop tattoo added to his face after the killing.
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. James Lussier and Wolfe testified at the trial, while Oungst did not, a fact mentioned by Haukaas. Dufour said the state couldn’t force Oungst to testify.
“He has a right not to testify,” Dufour said.
Dufour noted Wolfe and James Lussier described basically the same events surrounding the murder, as did three or four other people who had been informed second-hand of the details.
Forensic pathologist Dr. Michael Stier testified 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 in the case before the trial to get a more lenient sentence. He is scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 5 at 2 p.m.
