Chai Vang Chai Soua Vang ( born September 24 , 1968 ) is a naturalized U . S . citizen and a Hmong immigrant from Laos . While on a hunting trip in northern Wisconsin , Vang shot eight people , who were also hunting in the area , on November 21 , 2004 . Six were killed and two were left wounded . According to court proceedings prior to his conviction , Vang acknowledged shooting the people , but challenged the chain of events that caused a dispute over a deer stand to become violent and escalate into multiple deaths . Vang , who lived in Saint Paul , Minnesota at the time of the shootings , is currently being held at Iowa State Penitentiary . Background . History . Chai Vang is the father of six children . He is also a family shaman and a hunting enthusiast . Vang ' s father served in the Allied force during the Vietnam War . After the United States pulled their forces in 1972 ( http : / / ows . edb . utexas . edu / site / ritas - site / united - states - pulls - out - vietnam ) Vang and his family were forced to escape persecution / genocide ( http : / / www . chgs . umn . edu / museum / responses / hmongMigration / ) . After the loss of many family members due to the Vietnam War , Vang and his brothers moved to the United States from Laos in 1980 and settled in California . Chai Vang lived in Sacramento and eventually enlisted in the California National Guard . Vang moved to Minneapolis , Minnesota sometime around 2000 . A few years later , he and his family moved a few miles to the neighboring city of St . Paul . Shootings . On the weekend of the shootings , Vang went out deer hunting with two friends and their two sons in northwest Wisconsin , a region where deer hunting is particularly popular , east of Birchwood , Wisconsin around the town of Meteor . Meteor extends over a large sparsely populated area . The land in the area is a mix of public and private . It is believed that Vang and his friends began their day on public land , but he later went onto a private 400 acre ( 1 . 6 km² ) tract of land . On Sunday , November 21 , a hunting party of about 15 people were in a cabin on this private land . Terry Willers , one of the two co - owners of the land , left the cabin and saw Vang sitting in a deer stand . He used a handheld radio to ask the people still in the cabin whether or not anyone should be in the stand . Upon receiving a response in the negative , he began to approach Vang and told him to leave the property . After asking for directions , Vang proceeded to walk away towards a trail through a forested area of the property . At that point five of the hunters from the cabin who had heard the radio message arrived on ATVs . Robert Crotteau , the other co - owner , reportedly implied that Vang should be reported to the Department of Natural Resources for trespassing and suggested making a note of his hunting license number . Terry Willers wrote the number in the dust on one of the ATVs . The events after the confrontation are disputed . A violent altercation broke out and four of the eight victims were shot in the back , and three of these four were hit by multiple rounds . Vang is believed to have fired about 20 rounds from a Saiga rifle chambered in 7 . 62x39 . One of the wounded hunters died the next day , bringing the toll to six dead and two wounded . Vang was apprehended about five hours after the shootings and was placed in custody of the Sawyer County Jail on November 24 , 2004 . His bail was set at $ 2 . 5 million . Victims . The victims were part of a group of about 15 people who made an annual opening - weekend trip to the Crotteau - Willers property . Among those killed were father and son Robert and Joey Crotteau and Willers ' daughter Jessica Willers . Those who were killed : Those who were wounded : Investigation . There have been conflicting reports about what may have led to the shootings . According to subsequent oral statements by Vang , one of the local hunters , Terry Willers , took the first shot at him from about 100 feet ( 30 m ) away , and therefore the shootings were in self - defense . No shell casing was ever recovered from Willers ' gun even though during the trial Hesebeck admitted to firing a single shot later during the incident when Vang , noticing that Hesebeck was still alive , fired at him again . Hesebeck testified no shot was fired before Vang started shooting . Additional forensic analysis of Willers ' gun was not performed by the local law enforcement . The statements of both Vang and Hesebeck state that Vang removed the scope from his rifle before firing his first shot . Vang claimed race was a factor , alleging that during the verbal dispute , some of the local hunters yelled out racial slurs at him such as " chink " and " gook " . On the stand Hesebeck admitted Robert Crotteau had called Vang a ' Hmong a - - hole . ' Hesebeck also admitted that he told law enforcement that Robert Crotteau had problems with trespassers in the past , specifically citing Hmong hunters , who often travel to Wisconsin from Minnesota to hunt . The term " Mud Duck " is often used in Western Wisconsin to refer to Minnesota residents , similar to " Cheesehead " being used to describe Wisconsin residents . Willers used this term to describe Chai Vang when he radioed back to the cabin . The term has no racial connotation , although the defense claimed it did . While it is unknown how Willers and the others knew that Vang was from Minnesota , the state is well known for having the largest population of Hmong in the United States . The criminal complaint states that Vang shot four of the victims in the back , and Vang himself admits he shot one victim in the back . He also shot many of the victims multiple times . The prosecution made use of these facts in arguing against the claim of self - defense . Trial . The trial of Chai Soua Vang began Saturday , September 10 , 2005 in Sawyer County Courthouse . All fourteen White jurors ( ten women and four men ) were selected from Dane County , Wisconsin , and bused about northwest to Sawyer County , where they were sequestered . Vang told the jury he feared for his life and began firing only after another hunter ' s shot nearly hit him . He detailed for jurors how the other hunters approached him , and how he responded by shooting at each one . He says he shot two of the victims in the back because they were " disrespectful " . He recounted with clarity how he killed each victim . While saying on the stand , " ( he wished ) it wasn ' t happening , " Chai Soua Vang contended that three of the hunters deserved to die : " Did Mr . Crotteau deserve to die ? " Wisconsin Attorney General Peg Lautenschlager asked . " Yes , " Chai Soua Vang replied . Vang further testified that Joseph Crotteau deserved to die " because he accused me of giving him the finger and tried to cut in front of me to stop me from leaving . " And Laski deserved to die because he had a gun , he said . , Vang re - enacted his deeds while on the stand , using his hands and arms to imitate the motions of firing a rifle . Vang ' s lawyers commented that some of his abnormal remarks were possibly due to the language barrier . Therefore , when Vang responded affirmatively to the question that Mr . Crotteau and Mr . Laski " deserved to die , " his meaning implied that the men contributed to the circumstances that led to their deaths . Conviction . On September 16 , 2005 , Chai Soua Vang was found guilty of all six charges of first degree intentional homicide and two charges of attempted homicide by a jury of eight women and four men . On November 8 , 2005 , he was sentenced to six consecutive life terms plus seventy years ( forty for two counts of attempted homicide plus five additional years for each count of homicide in the first degree ) . In effect , this was a prison sentence of life without parole . At the time , Wisconsin was one of 12 states in the U . S . that did not have the death penalty . Reaction . The shooting and subsequent trial attracted nationwide attention . It has been reported that some Hmong Americans , like some other groups of Americans , do not fully understand American law regarding hunting . In their homeland , the Hmong had a different hunting culture , and most lands were government - owned and therefore open to subsistence hunting , as in other third world countries . Regional officials in Wisconsin and Minnesota have focused on educating Hmong hunters on private property rights to diminish the risk of future conflicts .