Suspect in Stillwater killings charged with murder
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(AP) - A 46-year-old Wisconsin man accused of breaking into the home of his former girlfriend and killing her and another man was charged Tuesday with two counts of murder.
Washington County prosecutors say that Steven Allen Van Keuren, River Falls, Wis., was charged with second-degree murder in the shooting deaths of Teri Lynn Lee, 38, and Timothy Jon Hawkinson Sr., 47, on Sept. 22 at Lee's West Lakeland Township home.
Lee's 12-year-old daughter told police that she was sleeping in her mother's bedroom with Lee and Hawkinson when she awoke to Van Keuren firing randomly. She said Van Keuren first shot Hawkinson, then shot her mother at least twice.
When the girl's sister came to the bedroom door, the two children ran across the hall to a bathroom. They stayed there about 10 minutes.
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During that time, the 12-year-old told police she heard Van Keuren say into the telephone, "I shot Teri, I shot her dead." First Assistant County Attorney Sue Harris said it wasn't clear who was called.
While the shooter was on the telephone, the girl and her sister ran out of the house and to their neighbor's for help, according to the criminal complaint filed in the case.
The first of many officers arrived on the scene at 4:29 a.m. By about 6:30 a.m., a SWAT team stormed the house. They allegedly found an armed Van Keuren in an upper bedroom and shot him. He also had a self-inflicted neck wound.
Lee's two young sons were rescued unharmed in the house about 90 minutes after the shooting started.
Washington County Attorney Doug Johnson said on Tuesday that Van Keuren was being treated at Regions Hospital in St. Paul, under guard by the county sheriff's office.
Johnson said it was unclear when Van Keuren would make his first court appearance.
Johnson said he intended to ask a grand jury to increase the charges to first-degree murder. That would also increase the penalty if Van Keuren is convicted.
"This was a vicious, premeditated act and it is our intent to see that he never is released from prison," Johnson said in a prepared statement.
The criminal complaint said that an autopsy found that Lee had been shot six times and Hawkinson three times.
(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)