Three Wausau-area men charged with March 15 beating death in Stevens Point

STEVENS POINT − A charge of being a party to the crime of first-degree reckless homicide was filed Thursday morning against each of three suspects in the March 15 fatal beating death of a 61-year-old man.

Christian J. Emerson, 18, of Wausau, Arlin O. Sangster, 19, of Rothschild, and Brandon L. Boehm, 20, of Wausau, each were charged with the felony connected to the beating death of Donald G. Mitchell Jr. Boehm and Sangster are both scheduled for bond appearances Thursday afternoon. Emerson currently is free on a $50,000 cash bail.

According to the criminal complaint, at 11:45 p.m. March 15, a caller reported an unconscious man who had been beaten up in a parking lot in the 1100 block of Center Point Drive. Officers found Mitchell in the parking lot. Mitchell was unresponsive and bleeding out of his nose.

An officer said Mitchell had his truck with camper attachment parked in the parking lot and had been living out of his vehicle, according to the complaint.

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On the night of March 15, Emerson, Sangster and Boehm decided to go to a tavern in Stevens Point. The three men were refused entry into the tavern because they were underage, so they decided to get something to eat. They returned to the parking lot in the 1100 block of Center Point Drive and began checking vehicles to steal stuff from, the complaint said.

Mitchell caught one of the men in his truck and started yelling at him. A man and woman eating pizza in a garden area near the parking lot said they heard a man yelling, "What are you doing in my truck?" and "What did you take from my truck?" The woman said she heard one of the men respond, "You got three big guys coming up on you. You want to mess with us?"

The couple walked into the parking lot and saw Mitchell up against his truck and the three men surrounding him. The woman said it appeared all three men were actively punching Mitchell, who soon fell on the ground. After Mitchell fell to the ground, the woman said she saw at least one of the men kicking him, according to the complaint.

Emerson told police Boehm was the one going into vehicles, and it was Boehm that Mitchell caught in his truck, according to the complaint. Emerson said Mitchell lunged at Boehm with a pair of pliers, according to the complaint.

An unidentified witness said he had driven to Stevens Point the same night in a different vehicle and had talked to Sangster about what happened shortly after it occurred, according to the complaint. The witness said Sangster told him all three men had been trying to get into unlocked vehicles when Mitchell caught Boehm. Boehm punched Mitchell in the jaw and kept punching him while he was on the ground, the witness said. Emerson came up and "stomped" on Mitchell the witness said, according to the complaint.

Emerson had taken a cellphone from one of the vehicles and police found a video of Mitchell lying on the ground from inside a vehicle as the vehicle drove by Mitchell, according to the complaint. One of the vehicle's occupants can be heard mockingly calling to Mitchell, "Have a good night, lil (expletive), be smooth with it."

An ambulance took Mitchell to Aspirus Stevens Point Hospital. An officer spoke to Mitchell when he regained consciousness. Mitchell said he was attacked by "three grown men." Mitchell was diagnosed with bleeding in the brain and flown to Aspirus Wausau Hospital the next morning. It was determined that nearly every bone in Mitchell's face had been fractured and that he sustained multiple fractured ribs, as well, according to the complaint. Mitchell died later that day. An autopsy determined Mitchell died from blunt force head injuries.

If convicted, each defendant faces a maximum of 66 years in prison. Boehm faces an additional two years in prison because he has a previous misdemeanor conviction.

The Stevens Point Police Department and Portage County District Attorney’s Office have determined that a 19-year-old Wausau man who was sought in connection with the case earlier this week was not directly involved with the assault. According to a news release from the District Attorney's Office, he will not be prosecuted.

Contact Karen Madden at 715-345-2245 or kmadden@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @KMadden715, Instagram @kmadden715 or Facebook at www.facebook.com/karen.madden.33.

This article originally appeared on Wisconsin Rapids Daily Tribune: Three Wausau men charged with March 15 beating death in Stevens Point