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Friend of the defendant testifies on the second day of the trial

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 boyfriend of a 20-year-old Rothschild man accused of participating in the March 15 beating death of a 61-year-old man in Stevens Point testified as a prosecution witness Tuesday.

Arlin O. Sangster, 20, of Rothschild, pleaded not guilty on July 17 to participating in the crimes of first-degree manslaughter in connection with the death of Donald Mitchell Jr. and petty theft.

Daemon Kitzrow was with Sangster and his two co-defendants the night Mitchell was beaten. Kitzrow said Sangster was a good friend. Kitzrow said he was also good friends with one of Sangster's co-defendants, 19-year-old Christian J. Emerson of Wausau.

Emerson pleaded not guilty to the crime of first-degree involuntary manslaughter of an elderly person on April 4. A five-day trial for Emerson is scheduled to begin on January 27.

Kitzrow said he was at a home in Wausau with Sangster, Emerson and several other people on March 15. He said the third co-defendant, Brandon L. Boehm, 20, of Wausau, showed up there later that day.

Boehm is scheduled to appear in court on September 3 for involvement in the first-degree manslaughter of an elderly person.

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The four men decided to go to the Icon, a nightclub in Stevens Point, with three others. Emerson drove his car and Kitzrow, Boehm and Sangster all rode with him. The three others drove there separately in a pickup truck.

When the group reached Stevens Point, they parked in a municipal parking lot behind the Cobblestone Hotel. All seven walked to the Icon, but Kitzrow, Boehm, Sangster and Emerson were not allowed in because they were minors. The group decided to get pizza at Polito's, which was within walking distance.

When the four returned to Emerson's car, Emerson noticed he had left his keys on the table at Polito's, Kitzrow said. Boehm said he wanted to “buy cars,” and Kitzrow wanted nothing to do with it, so he volunteered to get the keys. When buying cars, all vehicles are checked with the doors open for anything worth stealing. Kitzrow said he didn't think Sangster and Emerson wanted to accompany Boehm.

Kitzrow said a person was in the car when he returned with the keys, but he couldn't remember if it was Sangster or Emerson. When defense attorney Greg Venturini showed Kitzrow the transcript of a police interview he had conducted earlier, he noted that he had said it was Sangster in the car.

Kitzrow said Emerson returned to the car and all three were inside, with Kitzrow sitting in the passenger seat, when they saw Boehm coming toward the car, pursued by a man. The man yelled at Boehm and Boehm tried to calm him down, Kitzrow said. Sangster and Emerson yelled at the man through the car windows that there were three men there and asked him if he really wanted to fight them.

Boehm and the older man circled Emerson's car several times, and the man wouldn't calm down, so Sangster and Emerson got out, Kitzrow said. The man was facing Boehm and Sangster, and Emerson was behind him. Kitzrow didn't get out of the car.

Kitzrow said Sangster threw the first punch, but Boehm threw most of the punches. He said Sangster tackled the man to the ground and then dragged him out of the way.

Kitzrow said the men all got in the car and drove away. Kitzrow said he didn't remember anyone filming Mitchell or yelling at him, but he remembered seeing the video later on social media.

Venurini did not finish questioning Kitzrow on Tuesday, so he will take the stand again early Wednesday.

Witnesses report details of the night of the beating

Two people who witnessed part of the altercation between the three men and Mitchell also testified Tuesday. McKenzie Mallek said she and her boyfriend, Jakobe Chatman, went to Polito's for pizza that night and then took their pizza to Daisy Lounge to eat in a small garden with outdoor tables.

The two had barely started eating their pizza when they heard a commotion, Mallek said. She remembers an older man shouting, “What did you take from my car?”

Mallek said she then heard a younger voice saying there were three of them there and asking the older man if he really wanted to harass her. She said the older man kept repeating the question and demanding that they return what they had stolen.

Chatman testified that he tried to get Mallek to ignore the yelling, saying he didn't want them to get involved. But both said they went where they could see what was happening.

Mallek said she saw punches being thrown. Then she saw the older man lying on the ground. Mallek said she saw at least one of the men kick the man as he lay on the ground.

Neither Mallek nor Chatman could say exactly how many men fought with Mitchell. Both thought there were three or four. Neither could give a precise description of the men.

Technology helps in the search for murder suspects

Stevens Point police Lt. Justin Klein testified Tuesday how they found the three defendants. Stevens Point is involved in a system called Flock, Klein said. Cameras placed throughout the city record license plates as they drive by. The video creates a searchable database of vehicles that drive past cameras in the Flock network.

Klein said he had a partial license plate of a gray Nissan believed to be involved in the incident, as shown in images and video captured by both city and private cameras in the city parking lot. He was able to enter the partial license plate into the Flock system and find Emerson's car.

Stevens Point Detective Kent Lepak, who led the case, showed video footage of the fight from various company cameras set up around the parking lot. Although the videos did not identify Boehm, Emerson and Sangster, they showed them walking down the street and watching the fight from a distance.

Lepak said search warrants were served at all of the men's homes. Officers were able to find clothing that matched what the men were wearing in the videos and pictures.

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.

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