November 20, 2017 at 4:24 p.m.
Wausau man makes first appearance in Tomahawk homicide case
Complaint: Moen prepared shotgun before going to victim's house
Wausau man makes first appearance in Tomahawk homicide case
According to online court records, Eric L. Moen made a brief appearance before judge Robert Russell via video from the Lincoln County Jail.
The criminal complaint filed Monday morning alleges Moen confessed to the shooting during an interview with Tomahawk Police Chief Al Elvins on Nov. 17. During the questioning, Moen allegedly admitted to shooting Charles K. Ramp, 52, in his Tomahawk driveway the evening before. No motive was mentioned in the complaint.
According to the complaint, Moen said he drove to Tomahawk late Thursday afternoon, stopping at the truck stop outside of Merrill on U.S. Highway 51 to purchase gasoline. While there, he told Elvins "he readied a 20-gauge shotgun by loading five shells into it, working the action to chamber a round," according to the complaint.
After arriving in Tomahawk at around 5 p.m., he went to Ramp's home on West Mohawk Drive and parked at the end of his driveway. Ramp was not home, but two people in the house invited him in to wait for his arrival. When Ramp arrived 15 minutes later, Moen told him his vehicle was making a funny noise, and said he was going to open the hood and get a light so Ramp could check the motor, the complaint states.
He then went outside, opened the hood and opened the driver's door. Ramp came out of the house a few minutes later.
"Moen got the readied shotgun out of the back of his vehicle, walked back around the driver's side carrying the shotgun down hear his waist, then put the shotgun up in a ready position as he walked around the driver's door," the complaint alleges Moen told Elvins.
According to the complaint, Moen shot Ramp once, and he fell to the ground. Moen then allegedly shot Ramp four more times as he lay on the ground. Ramp was transported to Ascension Sacred Heart Hospital in Tomahawk where he later died.
The preliminary cause of death is listed in the complaint as "multiple shotgun slug wounds (5), all of indeterminate range."
In a press conference Friday morning, Elvins said Moen fled the area immediately after the shooting, disposing of the shotgun just outside of Tomahawk. He was apprehended by the Chippewa County Sheriff's Department without incident as he left a Lake Hallie Walmart store at about 11 p.m.
He led police to where he had disposed of the shotgun after he was brought back to Tomahawk at about 3 a.m. Nov. 17.
After Moen was booked into the Lincoln County Jail Friday, Russell set bond at $1 million, which he left in place during Monday's hearing. During the hearing Monday, Moen waived his right to a speedy preliminary hearing and a scheduling conference was scheduled for Dec. 14.
If convicted of the Class A felony, Moen faces a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment.
Jamie Taylor may be reached via email at [email protected].
Comments:
You must login to comment.