A Murder in Barron County.

Death in Clinton ruled a homicide

by Eileen Nimm, Chronotype staff
3/12/2014 12:50:00 PM

The suspicious death of a 33-year old man in the Town of Clinton early Monday, March 10, has been ruled a homicide and continues to be investigated by the Barron County Sheriff's Department.
Dead from multiple gunshot wounds is 33-year old Daniel J. Raven of Barron. At 12:32 a.m. a Sheriff's Department dispatcher received a call of a man possibly dead at his residence on a turkey breeder farm about 3 miles north of Poskin where Raven was a farm manager. Deputies responded to the scene and found the man dead.

"At this time we are following up on leads and possible suspects in the case," said Sheriff Chris Fitzgerald, who said he would not reveal the type of weapon used in the crime. "We believe the public is not in any danger."

Also involved in the investigation are the state Department of Criminal Investigation, the State Patrol and the Barron County medical examiner.

He said Barron County's last homicide was the murder of Daniel A. "Griz" Grindheim, who was beaten to death by David M. Makowski, 37, and Bradley S. Tiegs, 42, both of Barron in January 2009.

In 2010, Barron County Circuit Court Judge James Babbitt sentenced Makowski to 13 years in prison and Tiegs to 12 years in prison for second-degree reckless homicide as a party to a crime.
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STORY UPDATE

Three held on first-degree intentional homicide

Two men and the ex-wife of Daniel J. Raven, are in custody for the shooting death of Raven, 33, of Barron, in Raven's Town of Clinton residence early Monday. Trista Hrabak, 29, and her boyfriend, Ian Skjerly, 34, both of 1809 22nd St., Rice Lake, and their friend, Robert McBain, 37, of Cameron were taken into custody Wednesday, each for first-degree intentional homicide as a party to a crime. Formal charges by the Barron County District Attorney's Office are expected Monday. The case along with a motive remains under investigation, said Sheriff Chris Fitzgerald at a press conference this Thursday morning. He said Raven died of two gun shot wounds caused by a rifle-type weapon. He did not divulge who shot the weapon. Raven's girlfriend, Tiffany Workman, 33, called the Sheriff's Department at 12:32 a.m. and reported that Raven was possibly dead at his residence on a turkey breeder farm about 3 miles north of Poskin where Raven was farm manager. Raven's girlfriend's two children were sleeping at the time of the incident, and Workman and they were not harmed. Thursday, March 13, 2014

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Reader Comments

Posted: Friday, March 14, 2014
Article comment by: Mary E. Glynn

Good investigative work in making the arrests so quickly and protecting the public at large. Now we pray the Barron County district attorney's office has enough evidence to work with to secure 3 solid convictions, without settling for guilty pleas on lesser charges to avoid the expense, long hours, extensive preparation, and hard work of a courtroom trial.

If convicted, there needs to be an appropriate sentence in our non-death-penalty state, not just a decade or so in prison, which seems to many out here a mere slap on the wrist for taking another man's life...

Life is precious, not cheap, and real men and women who are not barnyard animals know that it is better to use reason, not physical force, to solve problems. Brainwork. We seem to have forgotten this in the war years, and those attitudes are trickling into our local civil society to our own detriment.