Police are still searching for Virgil Thew, who is wanted in connection with the deaths. He was last seen on Jan. 1 in the town of Lisbon.
MAUSTON − A 33-year-old woman and two girls, ages 12 and 13, were shot to death and locked in a New Lisbon bedroom together, according to court documents filed Friday in Juneau County Circuit Court.
Virgil G. Thew, 47, of New Lisbon, faces three counts of first-degree intentional homicide for the deaths of Elizabeth Kolba and the two girls, who have not been named. Juneau County Circuit Judge Paul Curran issued a warrant for Thew on Friday.
According to the criminal complaint, on Dec. 30, the father of the 13-year-old girl reported her missing. He said she had not returned to her Monroe County home the previous night and her SnapChat location was showing her at an address on West Bridge Street in New Lisbon, according to the complaint.
Officers went to the apartment Thew shared with his mother, whom he cared for, according to the complaint. Kolba, Thew’s girlfriend, also lived at the apartment, according to the complaint. Thew’s mother said she last saw the 13-year-old girl with a 12-year-old girl, who was Thew’s stepdaughter.
The police chief went to the New Lisbon home of the 12-year-old girl’s mother, but the girl was not there. The mother said she should be at the home of Thew and his mother.
About 12:30 p.m. Dec. 30, a property owner reported a trespasser the previous day on his Juneau County property. Police learned from trail cameras it was Thew. A neighbor also told police about a car he had seen that morning on a logging road. The car belonged to Thew.
Police impounded the car and found a handgun in the trunk. The keys for the vehicle were in the passenger compartment, according to the complaint.
At 4:23 p.m. Dec. 30, a 911 caller reported finding bodies in a bed at Thew’s home on West Bridge Street, according to the complaint. Two people reported they were looking for the children and went to the home. They broke into Thew’s locked bedroom and found three dead people laying in a bed. When police arrived, Thew’s mother and the two people who had been looking for the children were walking out of the home.
Police confirmed the three victims were Kolba and the two girls, according to the complaint. They saw that the bedroom had multiple locks on the door, which were damaged.
Thew’s mother said she had been in the home the days following Christmas. She said Thew, the two girls, Kolba and Thew’s sister had been the only ones there. The sister told police she had left work when she heard police were at Thew’s apartment looking for missing children. She had gone to the apartment to look after Thew’s mother, because he wasn’t there. She said she didn’t go into his bedroom because it was locked. She said Thew would get “extremely upset” if anyone entered his room.
An autopsy confirmed Kolba and the two girls died of gunshot wounds, according to the complaint.
The New Lisbon Police Department said in a Monday morning news release they are continuing to look for Thew and the last confirmed sighting of him was on Jan. 1 near Orange Road and McEwen Road in the town of Lisbon. They are asking the public to contact law enforcement with any information regarding possible sightings or the whereabouts of Thew.
Thew is 5 feet and 11 inches tall, weighs about 160 pounds and has a 1-inch scar on his forehead, according to the police department. Thew is wanted through Wisconsin Probation and Parole. People should consider him armed and dangerous, according to the news release. If seen, do not approach Thew and contact 911.
Contact Karen Madden at kmadden@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @KMadden715, Instagram @kmadden715 or Facebook at www.facebook.com/karen.madden.33.
