close
close

Trial against Arlin Sangster begins in Portage County

Arlin Sangster is accused of being an accessory to first-degree manslaughter in connection with the March 15 killing of 61-year-old Donald Mitchell Jr. in Stevens Point.

STEVENS POINT – The trial of the first of three defendants charged in connection with the March 15 beating death of 61-year-old Donald G. Mitchell Jr. in Stevens Point began Monday.

Defendant Arlin O. Sangster, 20, of Rothschild, pleaded not guilty on July 17 to participating in the crimes of first-degree involuntary manslaughter of an elderly person and petty theft.

One of Sangster's co-defendants, Brandon L. Boehm, 20, of Wausau, will likely testify against Sangster, Portage County Assistant District Attorney Jedidiah Dodge said during opening arguments Monday afternoon. Boehm's arraignment is scheduled for Sept. 3 on charges of participating in the offense of first-degree involuntary manslaughter of an elderly person.

The third defendant in the case is Christian J. Emerson, 19, of Wausau. He pleaded not guilty on April 4 to being an accessory to first-degree involuntary manslaughter of an elderly person. A five-day trial for Emerson is scheduled to begin on January 27.

Mitchell was a man who didn't own much, but he had a pickup truck, a trailer, a parking permit that allowed him to park overnight in a city parking lot and sleep in his trailer, and he had a job, Dodge said. Mitchell had enough clothes to make a living, a cell phone that allowed him to watch TV and movies, and a few possessions. They weren't worth much, but they were all Mitchell had.

The three defendants were bored and another friend drove from the Wausau area to a club in Stevens Point, Dodge said. They went to a pizza place and then to the club, but the club checked IDs that night and the underage men could not get in.

Weather in Central Wisconsin: In central Wisconsin, temperatures will rise to 40 degrees Celsius and there is a possibility of strong storms on Monday and Tuesday

Readers ask: Will Spirit Halloween open a store in Stevens Point this year?

One of the men had left his cell phone at the pizza place and two of the men went to get it. While they were gone, the other two men began “car shopping” in the municipal parking lot behind the Cobblestone Hotel, Dodge said. They went from vehicle to vehicle in a parking lot, looking for unlocked cars that might have something worth stealing.

Mitchell was watching TV on his cell phone when the lights came on in his taxi, Dodge said. Mitchell got out of the back of his RV and yelled at Boehm, asking him what he had taken. Boehm backed away from Mitchell, who followed him and demanded his belongings back.

Boehm got caught between two vehicles and Mitchell was pinned between Boehm in front of him and Sangster and Emerson behind him, Dodge said. Witnesses said they heard Mitchell demanding to know what someone had taken from him and one of the younger men asking Mitchell if he really wanted to take on three big men.

The men punched Mitchell in the face and he fell to the ground where he was kicked, Dodge said. Someone dragged Mitchell into the street. The men then got into their vehicle and drove away, with Sangster filming Mitchell and taunting him, saying, “Be gentle,” Dodge said.

Defense attorney Anne Renc said Mitchell had a pair of pliers in his hand and threatened Boehm with them. She said the video shows one of the two men was not as involved in the fight as the other two.

Stealing things from cars wasn't what the group had planned to do that night, Renc said. Sangster was a good kid and a member of the high school football team, she said.

The video will show that it was the younger defendant who kicked Mitchell, Renc said.

After opening arguments Monday afternoon, Dodge and Portage County District Attorney Cass Cousins ​​called five members of the Stevens Point Police Department to the stand. Each officer reported what they saw when they arrived at the scene of the fight on March 15.

Officer Sam Hessel was the first officer to arrive on the scene. His body camera video showed Mitchell lying on the ground, blood pouring from his nose and his pants pulled down from being dragged. There was a small pool of blood next to his head.

Photos taken by Officer Melvin Plummer showed the same injuries to Mitchell's head and an abrasion on his hip, presumably caused by being dragged.

Officer Alex Beach spoke with Mitchell when he regained consciousness at Aspirus Stevens Point Hospital. Mitchell was in a lot of pain, clutching his ribs, coughing and barely able to speak, Beach said. His eyes were nearly swollen shut and Beach believed he could no longer see.

Prosecutors also called a neurosurgeon, a trauma surgeon and a diagnostic radiologist who had worked on Mitchell's case at Stevens Point Hospital and then at Aspirus Wausau Hospital. The three men spoke about the damage to Mitchell's brain that caused bleeding and swelling and pushed his brain to one side. They also described the numerous broken bones Mitchell suffered.

The trial is expected to last five days.

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

You may also like...