Legal Question in Criminal Law in Wisconsin

Threats and intimidation

My finace's 33 yr old son has spread word among his family and friends that he wants his mother dead. Last week he was on Army leave and came to our home to p/u his 5 yr old son. Now we've learned he came here from CA with a .45 automatic handgun and body armor, but it was lost with his luggage on the plane. She can't get a restraining order because no one will testify for her that he's making threats. The Army says they'll ''counsell him and decide if he's really a threat to her''. The police said they'll make extra runs by our house, but we never know when he'll be in WI. Meanwhile, she's a nervous wreck and our neighbors are uneasy because of the danger to the whole neighborhood. He claims to imagine her face on the target whenever he's shooting a gun. Oh, and he works in the armory in the Army! We've all heard people on the news saying they never realized the shooter was so close to the edge. Well, we do, but no one seems to know what to do about it. There's no money for a lawyer and she's scared stiff of him hunting her down. Can anyone help us? Thank you for your time and we'd appreciate anything you can do or suggest.


Asked on 8/19/08, 1:35 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
JAY Nixon nixon law offices

Re: Threats and Intimidation

Unless your mother in law is willing to help herself by going to the authorities, there may be no saving her. If she does involve a lawyer and law enforcement, there are options other than restraining orders. These include mental commitments if the person making the threats is mentally ill, which certainly seems to be the case from what you are indicating, or asking law enforcement to simply speak with him. The mental commitment option involves litigation and a need for witnesses similar to a restraining order case. I would recommend that you help your friend by retaining a lawyer for her, who would generally try to convince her to do something about these threats. Good luck!

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Answered on 8/26/08, 3:21 pm


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