 NEW VEHICLE- The long awaited armored rescue vehicle for the Marinette County Sheriff's Department is now in service according to Sheriff Jerry Sauve. The 2004 refurbished unit was purchased from Lenco Corp. in Massachusetts. The vehicle is available to answer calls from any law enforcement agency needing assistance in the region. The 10 person armor vehicle cost approximately $170,000 and will be housed at the Marinette County Sheriff's Department. Top Photo: Sheriff Sauve and Lt. Chris Lesperance are pictured with the new vehicle. Bottom Photo: Lt. Lesperance is pictured in the rear section of the unit. |
Sheriff Sauve Reports "Busy Times" at County Board MeetIssue Date: October 28, 2020 "We've been extremely busy lately," Sheriff Jerry Sauve told Marinette County Board of Supervisors when he briefly addressed them at the start of their monthly meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 27. He reported some of the recent events and declared, "It's been a challenging time, but we will meet the challenges."
He was referring mainly to the shooting incident in Goodman on Friday, Oct. 23 in which officers shot and killed a fleeing murder suspect. Sauve said all five officers involved in that incident are now on administrative leave while the incident is being investigated by the Wisconsin Department of Justice Criminal Investigation Division.
"We essentially lost our whole night shift patrol," Sauve declared. He said the officers remaining on active duty have been good about stepping up to fill the shifts, but it will result in considerable amounts of overtime.
Sauve reported that Deputy Spencer Elias is back at home, but remains off duty. Elias is was one of four men from Marinette and Oconto counties who were severely injured on Saturday, Oct. 10 when their vehicle struck an elk and tumbled off a road while they were enroute to go elk hunting in Montana. Sauve said Elias, who suffered multiple fractures and other injuries, is still recovering and is in excellent spirits.
Sauve began his report by introducing Deputy Andrew Rogers of Crivitz, who will officially become the department's newest lieutenant on Sunday, Nov. 1, replacing Lt. Jason Ducaine, who resigned recently to accept a position in private industry. Rogers also serves as a supervisor on the Town of Stephenson Town Board.
Keeping the roster of civilian jailers filled also remains a challenge, Sauve said. He reported that one of the people hired to fill jail attendant vacancies lasted six hours before quitting, and another worked for one shift and never came back. They will be doing more testing in hopes of finding other qualified people to fill those vacancies quickly, Sauve said.
Adding to challenges at the jail is the return of McClintock Park murder suspect Raymand Vannieuwenhoven to Marinette County for a competency hearing that is scheduled for 12:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 4. Vannieuwenhoven, now 84 years old, is charged with two counts of first degree murder and one count of first degree sexual assault for "cold case" crimes that happened 44 years ago in McClintock Park.
Sauve said due to his medical condition Vannieuwenhoven will need care by Certified Nurses Aides while in jail here, and Sauve declared providing the care and security he needs will be expensive, particularly if he is found competent and must be kept here throughout what could be a long trial
Court documents indicate Vannieuwenhoven may have suffered a stroke while being held at Mendota State Mental Hospital for competency examinations but must be in Marinette County personally for the Nov. 4 court proceedings, Sauve said.
Vannieuwenhoven is charged in connection with the shooting deaths of a Green Bay couple - David Schuldes, who was 25 at the time, and his fiancé, Ellen Matheys, who was 24, on July 9, 1976. Matheys had been raped before she was shot.
Thanks to preservation of evidence by investigators at the time and new technology developed in the intervening four decades, Sheriff Sauve and his investigators believe they have solved the decades old cold case. With the help of Parabon Nanolabs of Virginia, DNA evidence was used to identify national origin, family groupings and then individuals, which eventually led to Vannieuwenhoven. He was arrested on March 14, 2019 at his home at 17043 Remus Lane in the Oconto County Town of Lakewood, about 25 miles southwest of McClintock Park. In the intervening years he had lived quietly and raised a family.
The County Board meeting was held in the Theatre on the Bay on the Marinette Campus of UW-Green Bay, and parked outside was the Sheriff's Department's brand new armored rescue vehicle that was delivered on Friday, Oct. 23. County Administ-rator John LeFebvre thanked Sauve for bringing the vehicle so supervisors could see it.
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