LA CROSSE (WXOW) - La Crosse Police Chief Ron
Tischer says surveillance video played a "huge part" in the investigation that
led to the arrest of Jeffry Lepsch in the shooting deaths of May's Photo owner
Paul Petras and his son AJ Petras.
At a Thursday news conference, Tischer described the events that
occurred the day of the homicides inside May's Photo at 425 Main in downtown La
Crosse.
Chief Tischer says the videos, combined with the hundreds
of hours of legwork done by investigators "was crucial to breaking this
case."
Tischer says the surveillance video showed a man entering
the store at 1:53 p.m. The man was also seen in the store at 2:30 p.m. by an
eyewitness. The store was supposed to close at 2 p.m.
Finally at 2:58 p.m., the man is seen carrying four bags and a
backpack from the store then getting back in a blue van.
Additional surveillance video found by investigators and
shown to Pischke Motors owner Rahn Pischke identified the van as a 2001-2007
Dodge Caravan with an upside down trailer hitch.
After tracking down potential vehicles, the van was
finally located in Dakota, Minnesota, says Tischer, by an investigator with the
state Department of Criminal Investigation. The van was registered to Angie
Lepsch.
Search warrants of the van and the Lepsch home, according
to Tischer, turned up more than a dozen pieces of camera equipment taken from
May's Photo.
Investigators briefly talked to Jeffry Lepsch about the
case before he stopped talking and asked for a lawyer. He was later taken into
custody without incident. Lepsch is now in the Winona County jail awaiting
extradition back to Wisconsin to face the charges.
