TOWN OF DANE (WKOW) — A criminal complaint released Monday is revealing more details about how a man was murdered in the town of Dane last week.
According to the complaint, the Dane County Medical Examiner says Dalton David Ziegler, 24, likely died from homicidal blunt force injuries to the head. The findings won’t be official until toxicology testing is complete.
Last Tuesday, the Dane County Sheriff’s office announced the arrests of Jacob Johnson, 24, of Sun Prairie, Drew Luber, 21, of Deforest, and McKayla Tracy, 20, of Lodi in connection with Ziegler’s death. They all face a charge of felony murder.
According to the complaint, investigators believe Ziegler was killed after a fight between him, Johnson and Luber sometime overnight Monday into Tuesday.
The complaint says Tracy believed Ziegler, whom she was seeing, was cheating on her with another woman. Then, according to the complaint, she contacted Johnson and Luber.
During an interview, Johnson told investigators he was the one who hit Ziegler, but also said another person was holding Ziegler down according to reports. Those reports also say Luber told investigators he tried to stop Johnson during the beating.
The complaint states that Luber told police he was behind Ziegler, holding his arms around his chest, and Johnson began hitting Ziegler. At some point, Luber said Ziegler fell to the ground
Tracy told investigators she believed the beating lasted around 20 minutes. According to the complaint, she told investigators she did not call police because she claims Johnson and Luber drugged her.
The Medical Examiner also indicated Ziegler suffered a fractured maxillary bone during the beating that led to his death.