OCONOMOWOC -- The wife Stanley Van Wagner, 50, has been arrested in connection with his May 2015 murder.
Stanley Van Wagner was found dead, shot four times, at his home on S. Elm Street in Oconomowoc.
Oconomowoc Police Chief David Beguhn said his officers, along with a tactical team from the Waukesha County Sheriff’s Department, descended on the home at 5:16 a.m. Wednesday and took Amy Van Wagner into custody.
Beguhn said the couple’s 16-year old son, who was home, was taken into protective custody and will be turned over to a “responsible adult."
Beguhn said he expects charges of first degree intentional homicide and hiding a corpse to be filed against Amy Van Wagner on Wednesday afternoon.
The chief said the investigation was in part due to what he called “lack of cooperation,” with officers from Van Wagner’s family members.
“We haven’t spoken with the defendant since two days after we were notified that Stanley Van Wagner had been found,” Beguhn said.
Beguhn said police allege Van Wagner was shot in an office area at the home before his body was moved to the basement. He said Van Wagner was shot four times with a .380 handgun. He said police “know for a fact there were two .380 caliber guns owned by the family.”
One is missing.
The chief also said Stanley Van Wagner’s cell phone was missing at the time he was found. He said cell phone records obtained by authorities indicate that, around the time his body was discovered, the cell phone was being used to check messages and “pinging” off of a cell tower in the area where Amy Van Wagner worked.
Neighbors in the area reported hearing police deploy flash bangs and enter the Van Wagner home on Wednesday.
“I heard four loud booms that sounded kind of like bombs,” said one neighbor, who did not want to be identified. “Then I got up, walked out and saw there were all kinds of police on our block. I just saw people being walked out of the home."
Amy Van Wagner is expected to make an initial appearance in Waukesha County Court on Wednesday afternoon.
