Mike Dauplaise - Torture at the Back Forty: The Gang Rape and Slaying of Margaret Anderson

Torture

at the Back Forty

The Gang Rape and Slaying
of Margaret Anderson

By Mike Dauplaise

Torture at the Back Forty

The Gang Rape and Slaying of Margaret Anderson

Copyright 2009 Mike Dauplaise

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced in whole or in part, by any means, except for passages excerpted for purposes of review without prior written permission of the publisher. For information or to order paperback copies, please contact:

M&B Global Solutions Inc.

2987 Durham Road

Green Bay, WI 54311

(920) 468-9316

www.mandbglobalsolutions.com

Cover design by Michael Brechner/Cypress House

First Edition

ISBN:

0996048812

978-0-9960488-1-1

Acclaim for

Torture at the Back Forty

A murder story that must be told, for it represents the worst of human nature. The only thing colder than the killers hearts is the frigid air surrounding Green Bay, Wisconsin, that terrible winter. There is no fat here; the writing is lean and moves swiftly.

Philip Carlo, author of The Night Stalker, The Ice Man and The Butcher: Anatomy of a Mafia Psychopath

~~~

Keep your eyes on author Mike Dauplaise. Hes one to watch. Hes taken an obscure crime story and crafted a smart and riveting narrative that dares you to put it down.

Gregg Olsen, The New York Times best-selling author of Abandoned Prayers

~~~

While well-written and a true page-turner, this book is not for the faint of heart. I would prefer to fight a pack of hungry wolves before facing the men Margaret fought with on the night of her death.

Chuck Whitlock, author of Police Heroes and Scam School

~~~

A despicable cast of characters, a misogynistic culture, a horrendous crime Dauplaise lays it all bare in shocking detail as law enforcement struggles for four and a half years to find justice for a brutally victimized woman. Torture at the Back Forty is a stunning story in an otherwise bucolic blue-collar town.

Diane Fanning, author of Edgar Award finalist Written in Blood

~~~

Who murdered Margaret Anderson? And why? Dauplaise vividly recounts the details of this horrific crime. He depicts a twilight world where women are second-class citizens and life is cheap. Read it and weep.

Carol Anne Davis, U.K.-based author of Sadistic Killers and Children Who Kill

~~~

Torture at the Back Forty details the loss of innocence the brutal killing of Ms. Anderson changed this area for all time.

Steve Daniels, National Homicide Conference coordinator, Criminal Profiler, Retired Parole Agent

Dedication

To my incredibly supportive wife, Bonnie.

Despite the challenges and stresses

that were my constant companions on this project,

she always reminded me that

Margaret would want her story told.

Table of Contents

Prologue

Green Bay, Wisconsin, is a typical small Midwestern city where everyone seems to be connected through only one or two degrees of separation. Longtime residents assume theyll run into someone they know virtually every time they walk out the door, sometimes leaving that door unlocked behind them.

Because of the dominating presence of the Green Bay Packers football team, people outside of the immediate region mistakenly think the city is larger than its 100,000 residents. Either that or theyve heard how small it is in relation to other pro sports cities and picture it to be some sort of modern day Mayberry. Regardless, murders dont happen every day in Green Bay. In fact, years can pass without the type of headline-grabbing crime that stunned the area on December 27, 1983.

Small-town murders generally fall into one of just a few categories: crimes of passion, drug-related killings or domestic disputes. Thats what made the murder of Margaret Anderson so different, so disturbing. Margarets death came at the hands of people she barely knew, and occurred for no discernable reason. The motorcycle club subculture that played a role in the evenings events revealed a side of the city that some residents either didnt know existed or whose prominence they naively underestimated.

It took four years of dogged pursuit by members of the Green Bay Police Department, with assistance from other jurisdictions and even the new Americas Most Wanted television show, to bring ultimate closure to the case. These men made it their mission to navigate through the intense political climate of the motorcycle clubs, collecting hundreds of pieces of physical evidence along the way, to arm prosecutors with solid cases for trial.

This book provides a comprehensive look at the people and events surrounding that fateful night to the best of this authors ability. Every effort has been made to produce an accurate, fair accounting based on more than forty personal interviews and exhaustive research of police and court records.

Margaret Andersons murder continues to elicit strong emotions to this day from every perspective, including law enforcement, family, witnesses and the motorcycle community. Torture at the Back Forty is a testament to Margarets will to live and the perseverance of the men who tirelessly worked to bring her justice.

Chapter 1
Theres a freak across the railroad tracks

James Sumnicht slowly guided his truck and empty semitrailer up the slight incline toward Lime Kiln Road after delivering a load of cattle to Packerland Packing, a meat packing plant on the southeastern edge of Green Bay, Wisconsin. It was 3:01 a.m. on Tuesday, December 27, 1983, and the bitterly cold night seemed to make the big rig creak and groan more than usual.

Even by Green Bay standards, the area was in the middle of an unusually cold snap; really cold, considering the most severe part of the season still lay ahead. A west wind was producing a chill factor of 7 below zero, which was downright balmy compared to conditions earlier when high winds had dragged the chill factor to 25 below during the dinner hour. A light snowfall had covered the roads with a slippery sheen of white.

Sumnicht had arrived at Packerland Packing at 2:15 a.m. and was looking forward to the well-deserved nap awaiting him a short distance south at a truck stop in De Pere. It was too late and he was too tired to drive any more that night. But first, he had one more unpleasant task to complete: cleaning the manure out of his trailer. Packerland Packing offered truckers a rectangular, concrete-sided clean-out area immediately across Lime Kiln Road from the entrance for just that purpose. Truckers would back into the unlit pit and shovel the animal debris from their trailers after delivering their live loads.

As Sumnicht paused at the foot of Packerlands driveway, the high beams on his headlights illuminated the figure of a person coming out of the clean-out area. He watched as the person slowly made their way across the street. Long, dark hair obscured the persons face and prevented Sumnicht from seeing if it was a man or a woman. The persons gait reminded him of someone who was on their way to work, but not very enthused about it. He waited as the mysterious person walked across Lime Kiln Road, then slowed suddenly and began to stagger as if they were drunk or drugged.

Sumnicht quickly thought twice about the wisdom of cleaning out his trailer with people like this walking around.

What would a person be doing, coming out of there this time of the morning? he thought to himself.

A shiver went down his spine as he imagined who else might be lingering in the darkness, and whether the person on the road was truly drunk or if something was frightfully wrong with them.

He turned right and headed south down Lime Kiln Road, gently traversing the nearby railroad tracks and taking care to steer clear of the unsteady visitor who was now on the right edge of the roadway. Checking his right-side mirror, he noticed the person had stopped walking and was standing in potential harms way.