HAYWARD, WIS. -- A courtroom full of people sat in stunned silence Thursday as Chai Soua Vang ended his murder trial with the bold declaration that some of the six deer hunters he killed deserved to die because they were disrespectful.
In a cross-examination that may devastate Vang's claim that he was acting in self-defense, he said landowner Robert Crotteau and his 20-year-old son, Joe, deserved what they got when Vang chased them down and fatally shot each in the back, though Vang acknowledged that neither was armed.
Robert Crotteau deserved to die "because he's the one who confronted me and called me names and that's just who he is," Vang testified, as members of Crotteau's family appeared tearful and stunned.
Joe Crotteau deserved to die " 'cause he accused me of giving him the finger and tried to cut in front of me," Vang said, after describing how the younger Crotteau blocked him from leaving as his father profanely berated Vang for trespassing on the family's hunting land.
Chai Soua VangJeffrey PhelpsAssociated PressAfter jurors had left the courtroom and Vang's mother, siblings and children were allowed to speak with him, Vang sank weeping to his knees while his family surrounded him and prayed with him in Hmong, Vang's native language.
But during more than three hours of testimony, Vang, 36, of St. Paul, showed little emotion or remorse over killing the six hunters and wounding two others last Nov. 21 on private hunting land in southern Sawyer County, Wis.
"I was scared," he said. "I was confused."
Vang continued: "I wished this was not happening. ... I did what I had to do to defend myself."
Vang maintained that he opened fire only after Terry Willers, who owned the property with Robert Crotteau, fired a shot toward Vang as he walked away following what he decribed as profanity-laced, racist tongue-lashing by Crotteau.
Willers and Lauren Hesebeck, the only two members of the group who survived, testified this week that Willers never shot at Vang or even pointed his gun toward him. They said Willers was the only member of the group who was armed. They acknowledged that Robert Crotteau yelled at Vang using the "f-word" and threatened to beat him up if he ever returned, but they said no one called Vang any racist names.
Defense attorney Steven Kohn told jurors as the trial got underway Saturday that they would see how the entire confrontation filled Vang with fear and forced him to act on instinct to defend himself -- a legal defense in murder cases.
But prosecutor Roy Korte told jurors that Vang was motivated more by anger over the way Crotteau treated him, and Crotteau's promise to report him to authorities for trespassing.
And during cross-examination Thursday by Wisconsin Attorney General Peg Lautenschlager, Vang appeared to play into the prosecution's hands.
When she confronted Vang with a recorded statement he gave in which he said some of the hunters deserved to die, Vang responded matter-of-factly that the statement was true.
Lautenschlager ran down the list of victims, saying each name and asking Vang which deserved to die. Vang said that three -- the Crotteaus for how they treated him and Allan Laski because he had a gun -- deserved to die.
Prosecution witnesses disputed that Laski had a gun when he and Willers' daughter, Jessica Willers, jumped on an ATV and rushed to the scene of the shootings after hearing victims call for help on two-way radios. Police found no gun or evidence of one near Laski's body, they testified.
Vang testified that he shot them both because Laski stopped the ATV near Vang and was holding a rifle, looking Vang's way. But he also acknowledged fatally shooting Jessica Willers.
"She didn't have a gun?" Lautenschlager asked.
"No," Vang replied.
"Is there a reason you shot her?"
"My sense is I just open fire before they shoot me," Vang replied.
Judge Norman Yackel told jurors Thursday that the case would be in their hands some time today after attorneys make their closing arguments.
After an emotional afternoon of testimony that left many courtroom spectators in tears, Vang's elderly mother, a Hmong immigrant who speaks little English, released a translated statement in which she offered condolences to the victims' families.
"I share your grief and will mourn your losses for the rest of my life," Sao Vang said in a statement read by Vang's daughter Kia Vang.
She also defended her son as a good person who helped his entire family adjust to a new country, and thanked the Hayward community -- especially the police -- for treating the family with compassion.
Only Chai Vang, Terry Willers and Lauren Hesebeck know exactly what happened that day in the woods, she said, "and they must live with that the rest of their lives."
"My hope is that in the end," God will render justice, she said. She ended with what she said were the words of her jailed son in a conversation with her the day before:
"All of this could have been prevented if we could only learn to respect one another."
