Caledonia Argus

Murder, kidnapping investigated in Caledonia

Posted: 12/9/03

By David Heiller
Argus News Editor
A Caledonia man was shot and killed in Caledonia on Monday morning, December 8.

The person who was involved with the shooting is being held in the Allamakee County Jail in Waukon on charges of kidnapping.

He apparently took a woman and child from the house where the shooting occurred. The woman was renting the house.
The man was arrested for kidnapping in New Albin, Iowa, and is being held on a $750,000 cash bond.

The kidnapping victims were taken to a hospital, but the extent of their injuries is not known.

No names of any of the individuals involved had been released at press time on Monday night, December 8.

The Houston County Sheriffís office received notice of the shooting at 8:08 a.m. on Monday from the Allamakee County Sheriffís office. The Caledonia Ambulance and Police Department responded to the scene at 304 North Sprague Street.
They found that the victim had died.

The street was cordoned off, the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) was called in, and a search warrant obtained.

The BCA is in charge of the investigation, Mike Poellinger, an investigator for the Minnesota Regional Coronerís office in Hastings, said at a press conference Monday night.

Poellinger and Caledonia Police Chief Duane St. Mary answered questions from about eight reporters at that time.

Five BCA agents and five people from their mobile crime laboratory are assigned to the case, Poellinger said. There are two crime scenes, one in Caledonia and one in New Albin, so it is an interstate investigation, St. Mary said.

The attorney general offices from Minnesota and Iowa are working together on deciding what charges will be filed in Houston County.

Poellinger said more information would be released on Tuesday afternoon.

An autopsy was to be done on December 9 at the Minnesota Regional Coronerís Office in Hastings, Poellinger said.

ìWeíre still in the middle of this investigation,î St. Mary said at the end of the 30-minute press conference. ìWeíre going to be out there all night long.î

Authorities are not saying if this was a homicide. St. Mary said he could only remember one homicide in Caledonia in his 31 years on the police force. He said that homicide took place in the early 1970s.

Top of Page