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Surviving Hunter Willers Testifies In Vang Trial

Hayward, Wis. (AP) ― A deer hunter testified Monday he never fired a shot at a Minnesota man accused of killing six other hunters in the woods after a confrontation over trespassing.

Terry Willers, one of two hunters wounded in the Nov. 21 shootings, testified he was the only one in his group who had a gun when they confronted Chai Soua Vang.

"Who shot first?" Attorney General Peg Lautenschlager asked him.

"Mr. Vang," said Willers, whose 27-year-old daughter was killed that day.

"Did you ever fire your weapon?" the prosecutor asked.

"No, I did not," the witness said.

Willers calmly, in a quiet voice, told his version of the shootings in the second day of Vang's murder trial in Sawyer County. Willers told jurors the confrontation turned violent after Vang apologized for climbing into a tree stand on their private land and the group threatened to report him to authorities.

Willers, who owns a concrete construction business, said no one shot at Vang or physically assaulted him before Vang started firing. There were some angry words and raised voices from Robert Crotteau, a co-owner of the 80-acres of hunting woods, but no racial taunts, Willers said.

Although Vang was wearing a ski mask and hunting clothes, Willers testified he believed Vang was Hmong based on his darker skin he could see, his accent and his shorter height.

Willers acknowledged he radioed back to the hunting cabin that he taken care of a "tree rat," but he denied saying that the tree rat "was flushed out of the stand."

Vang, a 36-year-old Hmong immigrant and truck driver from St. Paul, Minn., is charged with six counts of first-degree murder and three counts of attempted murder. He faces mandatory life in prison if convicted.

Vang displayed no emotion Monday during Willers' testimony.

Vang's attorney, Steven Kohn, has already told jurors that Vang came under a verbal attack from the hunters who used profanities and racial slurs, and Vang felt frightened and under siege. Vang says he acted in self-defense after someone shot at him first.

On Monday, prosecutors began laying out the case disputing that, contending the other hunter wounded in the shooting, Lauren Hesebeck, fired a shot at Vang with Willers' gun, but only after Vang fired a barrage of shots and some of Hesebeck's hunting buddies were already dead.

Willers testified he found Vang in a tree stand, asked him to leave, gave him some directions, and Vang, a hunter since 1992, started to walk away, saying little.

As Vang walked away, Willers made his radio call and Crotteau indicated that he wanted to talk to the trespasser.

Crotteau drove up with four other hunters on two all-terrain vehicles and angrily accused Vang of trespassing, Willers said.

The group unsuccessfully tried to get Vang to show identification, then flipped over the hunting tag on his back to get his deer license number, said Willers, who traced the number in dirt on an ATV.

Crotteau hollered to Vang that the hunters would report him to authorities, and Crotteau's son, Joey, who was also killed, stopped blocking Vang's path, Willers testified.

After walking 25 to 30 yards, Vang crouched down, set down a bag and took the gun off his shoulder, Willers said.

He testified he believed Vang was going shoot, so he took his gun from his shoulder and held it in front of him. "I said, 'Don't you shoot at me, you (expletive)"' said Willers.

Willers ran and dove behind a tree. He said he heard a bullet whistle past him, a sound he's heard before. He flipped the safety off his gun and prepared to shoot.

"A split second I felt a burning and felt a ripple through my body. I next thought about moving and I couldn't move," said Willers, who was wounded in the neck. "I was thinking this was it."

None of the other hunters had guns, Willers said. Crotteau, 42, was among the five hunters killed in the woods. The sixth died in a hospital.

David Drew, whose 55-year-old brother, Dennis Drew, was killed, was at the cabin when Willers called about the trespasser. Drew testified Crotteau said he wanted to talk to the trespasser.

"He didn't act hot or mad. He just wanted to talk to the guy and clarify it was private property," David Drew said.

Willers showed little emotion during his testimony except when he spoke about his daughter, Jessica Willers. One shell was found within 15 feet of her, Gerald Kotajarvi of the state crime laboratory testified Monday.

Investigators said they found a total of 14 spent shells in the woods, and Kotajarvi said the shells were of the same caliber of the gun later seized from Vang.

Kotajarvi said four rounds were found in Terry Willers' gun, which could hold five.

Willers' 24-year-old son, Brandon, was hunting when he said he heard at least 10 shots. He heard over the radio his father was shot, so he drove to the scene.

When he and others were bringing Terry Willers out of the woods on an ATV, they passed Al Laski and Jessica Willers, Brandon Willers testified.

"We told them they needed help back in there. They needed a truck" to pick up Drew, Brandon Willers said. Laski and Jessica Willers were fatally shot moments later.

Brandon Willers drove his dad to the cabin, loaded him on a pickup and took him to the hospital.

"He just kept saying, 'It was stupid, what happened. It was stupid,"' the son testified.

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