March 30, 2015 at 5:00 p.m.
Victim in double homicide had violent past
Victim in double homicide had violent past
By Jonathan Anderson-janderson@lakelandtimes.com
Thomas Ayers, who authorities allege was killed by his 17-year-old stepdaughter, had multiple criminal convictions involving physical violence, including domestic violence, according to police and court documents obtained by The Lakeland Times.
Rhinelander High School junior Ashlee Martinson stands accused of gunning down Ayers, 37, and stabbing to death her mother, Jennifer Ayers, 40, at their remote home in the town of Piehl on March 7.
The following day, after police issued a nationwide alert, Martinson was captured in Boone County, Indiana with her boyfriend, Ryan Sisco, who is not a suspect.
Police have yet to say what prompted the killings and have declined to comment about what relevance, if any, Thomas Ayers' background has to the investigation.
But authorities are aware of that background and are scrutinizing it, the newspaper has learned.
In 2001, prosecutors issued an array of charges against Ayers in Dolores County, Colorado after his wife at the time - not Jennifer - claimed he hit her chest while she was six months pregnant.
The incident occurred when Ayers and the wife were separated but still married. Ayers was 23 years old and his then-wife was 29.
According to a police report, at approximately 10 p.m. on Aug. 29, 2001, Ayers went to a residence where the wife was staying and asked for gas money. After she said she had only $5 dollars, Ayers allegedly spit in her face, grabbed her shirt and told her to get into his truck, the police report states. She refused and, according to the report, Ayers forced her into the truck through the driver's side door as she yelled.
While they were driving down a country road, Ayers allegedly told his wife, "I'm going to eliminate my stress and get rid of you." He proceeded to hit her chest with the back of his right hand, according to the report.
The following day, police were called to the emergency room of the Dove Creek Community Health Clinic in Dove Creek, Colorado, where the wife reported the incident and also claimed Ayers had hit her head with a 12-pack of Mountain Dew days earlier.
An officer observed severe bruising on the woman's chest and fear in her voice.
"Mrs. Ayers said that she had a safe place to go for now but she is worried what he will do if he finds out she turned him in," the report states. "She is also worried about the safety of her unborn baby."
Ayers was subsequently convicted in 2002 of misdemeanor assault and menacing with domestic violence enhancers; he served two years in jail, court records show.
Other charges stemming from the complaint were not sustained: Ayers was acquitted of misdemeanor false imprisonment and the district attorney's office dismissed a felony kidnapping charge.
That incident was not the first time Ayers was accused of domestic violence. According to a police report dated two months earlier - in July 2001 - the same former wife told police she and Ayers were camping when they got into an argument "over him seeing a sixteen year old girl."
The wife said she and Ayers had been drinking and that he became very violent with her and "hit her in the face breaking her glasses and knocking her to the ground." She further claimed Ayers "pushed her around some more and then left."
According to the police report, the wife had a scab and redness on the left side of her nose and swelling to her left eye as a result of the altercation.
Asked by police if she wanted to press charges against Ayers, the wife said she would have to think about it because "she was afraid of what he might do." She did not want to get police involved, but a clinic treating her was required to report her injuries to law enforcement, according to the report.
An officer gave the wife a written statement form, but as of the date of the report - July 5, 2001 - the officer said she had not contacted police.
Court records do not indicate Ayers was charged as a result of the incident.
Two years earlier, in 1999, Ayers was convicted of misdemeanor assault after injuring a bicyclist and threatening to harm others. According to a police report, Ayers grabbed a bicyclist by the arm, pulled him off the bicycle and told him to "stay out of the middle of the road."
Ayers also threatened to go to the house where the bicyclist lived "and assault everyone there," according to the report, which states Ayers "became very argumentative and started to get violent" with a deputy.
The report goes on to say that Ayers told police he would assault the bicyclist "severely" if the bicyclist claimed he was hit by a vehicle Ayers was a passenger in.
As police transported Ayers to jail, he admitted to grabbing the bicyclist and also made threats against the bicyclist and people with whom that person shared a home. Ayers told officers he would go to the home "and really show them an assault," the report states.
It goes on to say that Ayers was "very loud and belligerent while transporting to jail" and that he had a strong odor of alcohol.
Ayers would have a similar interaction with police years later. On April 4, 2006, just before midnight, Ayers was stopped in the city of Cortez, Colorado after making an illegal U-turn.
According to a police report, Ayers' speech was slow and slurred, and the officer making the stop could smell alcohol on Ayers' breath.
The officer arrested Ayers, handcuffed him and placed him in a squad car, at which time Ayers began banging his head on a Plexiglas screen. After the officer intervened, he reported that Ayers "made motions that he was going to 'head butt' me," the report states.
Later, as the officer was walking toward Ayers' vehicle, the officer heard a loud noise and saw that the police car's rear driver's side window was shattered. Ayers had kicked out that window with his feet, according to another officer.
Police later transported Ayers to a hospital and then to jail, according to the report, which concludes: "During the arrest and while in custody Ayers was combative and threatening myself and other officers with bodily harm."
As a result of the incident, Ayers was convicted of drunk driving and criminal mischief, both misdemeanors. Prosecutors dropped a felony criminal mischief charge and other traffic infractions.
According to court staff in Montezuma County, Colorado, Ayers still has an active bench warrant for his arrest for failing to appear at a probation revocation hearing in connection with this case.
Extensive Colorado court record
Ayers is listed as a defendant in numerous other cases in Colorado's state court system. Among them:
• Stemming from conduct between April 2001 and May 2002, Ayers pleaded no contest and was subsequently convicted of misdemeanor reckless endangerment for which he was sentenced to six months in jail.
Details of that case were not available as of press time, but court records show the district attorney's office dropped several felony charges, including witness/victim intimidation, witness/victim tampering and witness/victim retaliation.
• In 2003, Ayers was charged with child enticement and sexual assault of a child, but prosecutors fully dismissed the charges. A year later, he was again charged with sexual assault of a child, and again, the district attorney's office dropped the charge.
Records show Ayers' wife at the time - the same woman who had earlier accused him of domestic violence - was similarly prosecuted. In January 2003, the wife was charged with child enticement and child sexual assault, but a court dismissed those charges. Then in March 2003, the wife was charged with sexual assault of a child, indecent exposure to a child under age 15, child abuse and harassment. The DA's office dismissed all of the charges against her except for indecent exposure. She pleaded guilty under a plea agreement, and the charge was later dismissed after she successfully completed a deferred sentence. The woman had to register as a sex offender.
Records show the sex charges against both Thomas Ayers and the wife are linked to the same underlying event. A police report lists Ayers, who was then 25, as a witness; the wife is listed as a suspect. Accounts of what happened are contradictory and changed over time, but at issue was whether the wife had sexually assaulted a 13-year-old boy and whether Ayers participated in that alleged assault.
According to the police report, the alleged incident occurred at Ayers' trailer, which he shared with a girlfriend. At the time, Ayers was separated from the wife though they remained in contact.
The boy reported that Ayers was "telling him how to do things" to the wife, and she told police that Ayers was showing the boy how to perform sex acts on a woman. Ayers' girlfriend corroborated that claim, telling police that Ayers was teaching the boy like a father "teaches his son how to throw a baseball."
In a different interview with police, the boy also said the wife had initiated sexual contact with him; he later changed his account to omit that allegation, and the wife refuted the claim.
Ayers denied knowing anything about the alleged sexual assault.
The police report states the boy was a friend of Ayers and the girlfriend and spent a lot of time at their home.
Despite the different versions of events, what is clear is that all charges against Ayers were dropped.
Federal indictment
In September 2006, a North Dakota grand jury indicted Ayers for illegally possessing two rifles, a shotgun and ammunition, which he was prohibited from having under federal law because of his 2002 domestic violence conviction in Colorado.
According to court documents, Ayers possessed the firearms at his residence in Williston, North Dakota for sporting purposes. How authorities became aware Ayers had the weapons is not indicated in the records.
He was arrested in Colorado, court records show. A judge found him to be a flight risk and danger to the community, and in October 2006 he was remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals to be transported to North Dakota.
"I conclude that there is clear and convincing evidence that no condition or combination of conditions for release will reasonably assure the safety of the community," a federal judge wrote in Ayers' case. "I further find, by a preponderance of evidence, that no condition or combination of conditions of release will reasonably assure the appearance of the Defendant."
As part of a plea agreement, Ayers pleaded guilty to the first count - illegal possession of firearms - and the government dismissed the second count, concerning illegal possession of ammunition. He was sentenced to 24 months of probation. As a condition of supervision, Ayers was required to abstain from alcohol and use of illegal drugs, and was required to participate in programs for mental health and substance abuse as required by his supervising probation officer.
(According to Oneida County Sheriff's Captain Terri Hook, alcoholic beverages and illegal drugs were not found at the crime scene in Piehl, though numerous guns were present.)
Court records show Ayers was working at a construction company earning $10 per hour after being released from jail on the federal charges.
A search of state court records in Kansas, North Dakota and Wisconsin did not yield any criminal convictions against Thomas Ayers, though they do show he had multiple speeding and traffic citations.
The newspaper did not locate any criminal cases against Jennifer Ayers.
Family: Ayers changed
In an interview with The Lakeland Times, Ayers' sister, Sandy Rumore, said her brother worked hard to turn his life around. The person he was as a young adult - in trouble with the law - was not the person he became, she said.
"If you look at his criminal history, you'll see it's quite some time since he's been in trouble, and unfortunately many people have times in their life when they're not doing well," Rumore said.
"I think we all grow up at some point," she added, and said Ayers later in life "was doing what he should have been doing as a man: he was working, taking care of his family and raising his children."
Rumore said she was not aware of any tension Ayers had with Martinson. He might have come across as "gruff" to some, Rumore said, but it was because he was testing to see if others were worthy of his time and trust.
"He was a good man," she said. "If he loved you, he would do anything for you."
Ayers was born in Kansas and raised in Colorado. He eventually moved to North Dakota and began working in the oil industry, according to Rumore.
"As a young man he left trying to find himself," she said.
Although Ayers continued to work in North Dakota's oil fields, he and his family moved to Oneida County about a year ago, and he commuted back and forth. Rumore said Ayers loved Wisconsin and the people here, and it's where he wanted to retire.
That was his life, Rumore said - enjoying nature, spending time with his family.
"I want people to know that he was a good man, and that he loved his children, he loved his family," Rumore said. "He was an avid outdoorsman. He loved hunting and fishing. He loved being outside."
Ayers was laid to rest in Colorado last week.
Investigation continues
Hook said Monday investigators are examining the entire family and their backgrounds to fully understand the case.
"Everything about the family has to be investigated," Hook said. "We're going to look at Jennifer's history. We're going to look at Thomas' history. We're going to look at Ashlee's history. And obviously the district attorney will be made aware of all those things."
Martinson, who is still in Indiana, has declined to waive extradition. Last week, Gov. Scott Walker formally requested that she be brought back to Wisconsin, where she faces two counts of first-degree intentional homicide. She has also been charged with three counts of false imprisonment for allegedly locking her three young sisters in a room with food before leaving the house.
An April 8 court hearing has been scheduled, at which time a judge could order Martinson's extradition to Oneida County.
She remains in custody without bail.
Oneida County District Attorney Michael Schiek did not respond to a request for comment as of press time. Martinson's attorney, Thomas Wilmouth, declined comment.
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