Third suspect in BWCAW shooting spree pleads guilty

[Lee Borgersen]

 

  Third suspect in BWCAW shooting spree pleads guilty
John Myers Duluth News Tribune
Published Wednesday, January 23, 2008
 
Another suspect in last summer’s shooting spree on Basswood Lake in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness pleaded guilty Tuesday to reduced charges.

Zachary Ross Barton, 19, of Ely pleaded guilty to one count of felony aiding and abetting terroristic threats and one misdemeanor count each of reckless discharge of a firearm and underage consumption of alcohol.

Barton will serve 20 days in a local jail and three years probation on the felony charge and also will testify against others charged in the case. He’s also been ordered to stay out of the BWCAW for three years.

 
 
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Barton testified in state district court in Lake County in Two Harbors on Tuesday morning that he was a member of a group that made terroristic threats to campers on Basswood Lake on Aug. 7. Barton conceded to drinking beer and firing his .22-caliber firearm while on Newton Lake but said he did not join others in his group in shooting his gun or verbally threatening campers on Basswood Lake.

Another suspect in the case, Jay Andrew Olson, 19, of Ely, entered pleas Tuesday of not guilty to multiple felony and misdemeanor charges in the Basswood case. His trial probably will be held within about 90 days, although no date has been set.

An attorney for another suspect in the case, Barney James Lakner, 37, of Ely again postponed his omnibus hearing, now set for Feb. 19.

Two other suspects pleaded guilty earlier this month. Casey James Fenske, 19, of Ely pleaded guilty Jan. 7 to one felony count of aiding and abetting terroristic threats, a gross misdemeanor for criminal damage to property and a misdemeanor charge of reckless discharge of a firearm.

Fenske will serve at least nine months at the Northeast Regional Corrections Center or a similar facility and will be on probation for three years. He also will pay restitution for damage he inflicted on a federal water-level gauging station on Basswood Lake in an earlier incident and will be banned from the BWCAW for three years.

Fenske admitted shooting about 50 shots from his .22-caliber handgun, including 20 shots during a confrontation with a family of campers. But Fenske said he shot only down, into the water.

Travis John Erzar, 20, also of Ely, pleaded guilty Jan. 7 to a felony count of aiding and abetting terroristic threats and a misdemeanor count of underage consumption of alcohol. Erzar will serve no jail time but will serve three years of probation on the felony charge. The felony will be reduced to a misdemeanor in Erzar’s court record if he serves the probation without problem. Erzar also is banned from the BWCAW for three years.

Fenske and Erzar agreed to testify against other men charged in the incident. Additional charges against both men were dropped.

An as-yet unnamed juvenile also has been charged in the case. Efforts are under way to try the juvenile under a state statute that effectively treats him as an adult, said Lake County Attorney Russ Conrow.

According to court testimony, Fenske, Erzar and Barton motored into Basswood Lake late on the night of Aug. 7 to join Lakner, Olson and the juvenile, who had already been on the lake for some time in a second boat.

Lake County Attorney Russ Conrow has said Fenske, Erzar and Barton participated in only one act of terroristic threats and that the three were the least culpable of those charged. Conrow so far has not struck pleas with any members of the first boat who, according to court testimony and the criminal complaint, fired more shots from more weapons, including large fireworks, in the vicinity of several additional campers.

Conrow leveled 79 charges against the five adults in September, many of them felonies. According to the criminal complaint, the men brought cases of beer, a bottle of schnapps, mortar-like fireworks, a Russian-style semi-automatic assault rifle, a

.45-caliber Glock semi-automatic handgun, a .22-caliber handgun and a .22-caliber rifle into the wilderness for their evening boat rides.

In videotaped statements to law enforcement officers the morning after the shooting, four men — Barton, Fenske, Erzar and Olson — admitted to the spree.

Lakner apparently hasn’t made a statement to police. He’s been charged with 13 felonies and 12 other crimes. Lakner was arrested with a .45-caliber handgun and several clips. He has been previously cited for alcohol-related crimes and was charged with operating a snowmobile in the BWCAW.

Both boats entered a no-motor area of the BWCAW, and occupants of the first boat are believed to have crossed into Canada and fired shots in Ontario. No decision has been made about federal charges, and the investigation continues. Some of the men could face firearms and border-crossing charges in Canada.
 

[Tami]

Thats it?
a few days in jail?

[Lee Borgersen]

Thats it?
a few days in jail?

Yep, pretty sad ain't it

[thunderpout]

Yeah it sure is....it'd be nice if they can get em on the Federal charges....but in the end, they are going to still be a bunch of morons that are walking the earth, eh?         -thunderpout

[thunderpout]

Just read an article int the Trib this morning, two of the perps are getting five years I believe, the max for their convictions.  A witness, a woman who was with a daughter, a young son and her older father I think, said they were chased into the woods at their campsite and were threatened with rape and were going to kill the older man. They also made strange comments about their freeze dried food....( )I thought the group terrorizing people were just going around shooting their guns at the campsites, which is bad enough, but this changed my take on this even more.... How do ya get off this easy for shooting assualt rifles at campers in the BWCA from motorized boats, and terrorize people and threaten them with rape!?! The story made it sound like there is some sentiment up there about the Feds/tree hugger types taking the area away from the locals... which is a little strange being the area profits from the tourism that the BWCA brings them... Im sure there are a few in the area that resent the tourists, and regs and such put on them, but is it as big of a conflict as the article touched on?  Im just curious, from the standpoint of a guy who doesnt live up there(but always thought Id like to..) but has frequented the area quite often over the years hunting, fishing and camping....

[Bobby Bass]

 

Ringleaders sentenced in last year's BWCA terror spree
By Tad Vezner
tvezner@pioneerpress.com
Article Last Updated: 08/11/2008 09:45:23 PM CDT


Two men deemed to be the ringleaders of a group that terrorized campers with death threats and gunshots in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness one year ago were sentenced today to three years in prison for their crimes.

Barney James Lakner, 38, and Jay Andrew Olson, 20, both of Ely, were charged in September — along with three other adults and a juvenile — with dozens of felonies, gross misdemeanors and misdemeanors, including making terroristic threats and numerous firearm, theft and property damage charges.

Lakner and Olson pleaded guilty in July; the other adults in the group already have been sentenced.

Lakner was sentenced today on felony aiding and abetting counts related to making terroristic threats, harassment with a firearm and possession of an assault rifle by a minor. He also was sentenced on misdemeanor counts of reckless discharge of a firearm and aiding and abetting theft.

Olson was sentenced on felony aiding and abetting counts of making terroristic threats and harassment with a firearm. He also was sentenced on two gross misdemeanor counts of criminal damage to property and misdemeanor counts of possession of stolen property and reckless discharge of a firearm.

Lake County Attorney Russ Conrow said the two clearly were in charge of the outing.

"Olson organized the whole thing. He called everybody up, drove them around ... Lackner brought the guns. That's why we went after them more than the others," Conrow


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said.
Both men also are banned from the BWCAW for five years.

During the Aug. 7, 2007, incident on Basswood Lake, authorities received a number of phone calls from families camped around the lake, reporting gunshots and fireworks from a group of drunken men cruising around in motorboats.

The families said the men came ashore on at least two locations, shouting vicious obscenities at campers, saying they would kill one man and rape his daughter, stealing a canoe and damaging a gauging station that measures water flow.

One family said they fled into the woods and hid for safety while the group landed and walked about their campsite. Another camper described how one man swam naked within view of her children.

Authorities caught the suspects at a public landing on another lake, confiscating several guns, including a semiautomatic rifle.

Emrich Kohler, who, with his daughter, was terrorized during the outing, gave a statement in court today thanking prosecutors and law enforcement officials for their work — but also noting that the families of Lakner and Olson would be in his prayers.

"In a way, they are victims, too," he said. "We hope the resolution of this awful incident will ensure the safety of all future visitors to the Boundary Waters."

Two other adults in the group, Travis Erzar, 20, and Casey Fenske, 19, pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting terroristic threats in January and agreed to testify against the others in exchange for reduced sentences. Erzar received no jail time and three years' probation, and Fenske received a nine-month sentence and three years' probation.

Zachary Ross Barton, 19, the fifth adult in the group, pleaded guilty to a charge of aiding and abetting terroristic threats, reckless discharge of a firearm and underage consumption. He served 20 days in jail and is on probation for three years.

Erzar, Fenske and Barton also are banned from the BWCAW for the duration of their probation.

The last member of the group, a 17-year-old boy, still awaits trial.

Tad Vezner can be reached at 651-228-5461.