GUILTY WI - Nicholas Day, 26, found dead while jogging along rural road, Blue Mounds, 15 JaN 2020 *ARREST*

[stattlich1]

Thanks! I missed that they identified the jogger.

MOO, sounds to me like someone hit this jogger with a bat or something while driving by, at first they thought hit and run, so my guess is, blunt force trauma that would not have been clear on first observation at the scene, but became clear in autopsy, MOO

"Investigators initially stated Day was the victim of a fatal hit and run, but after an autopsy, revised their view and classified his death as a homicide. The Dane County medical examiner has not specified the manner of the killing. "It is brutal and calculated," Sheriff David Mahoney says."

 

[MntnHiker]

From the article linked above: "Investigators later determined it was likely a violent killing." My goodness. I wonder what on earth happened to this man.

The fact that they are asking anyone with a personal or professional connection to him to reach out makes me think they believe this was a very personal killing done by someone known to him.

Did he regularly run this route around the lunch hour? If so, who in his life would know this? Or was this day an anomaly?

 

[Wendyb1063]

Nothing really new here, except that the police are still looking for anyone who might have some information:
Officials investigating 'extremely brutal' homicide still asking for help from anyone who interacted with Nicholas Day before his murder

 

[Wendyb1063]

An arrest has been made, although a motive is still unknown.
21-year-old accused in 'cold, calculated, extremely violent' homicide in Blue Mounds

 

[Wendyb1063]

Here is some other news on the arrest. It is unclear how (or even if) the suspect knew Day. The suspect appears to have a history of schizophrenia based on the second link below.

“Shocked”: Neighbors of Nicholas Day homicide suspect react to arrest

Arrest made in town of Blue Mounds homicide; motive unknown

 

[MntnHiker]

Wow well I'm glad they found him. No known connections--I am wondering if this was just a total random attack. Was he suffering some kind of breakdown or rage while driving by Nicholas and just killed him? Was he angry about something trivial, such as Nicholas running partly in the road and similar to a road rage incident, killed him?

 

[Wendyb1063]

Here's another local news story: Friends say arrest in Nicholas Day's homicide brings relief after month-long investigation

 

[hawkeyefan51]

Wow..sounds like this suspect was diagnosed with a serious mental illness in 2017 and maybe not always compliant with his meds? If this is true his poor family are also victims in this tragedy. As a nation, we have to look more closely at solutions to our mental illness problems, but that's just moo and I have no idea what those solutions should be. Just a very tragic story.

 

[Wendyb1063]

A bit more news... Hawkeyefan51, I agree with you completely.

Judge sets $1M cash bond for suspect in Blue Mounds homicide

 

[LadyL]

A bit more news... Hawkeyefan51, I agree with you completely.

Judge sets $1M cash bond for suspect in Blue Mounds homicide

from the article:

Berg’s car was seen on surveillance footage at Tyrol Basin on the day of the murder. He drove into the parking lot, then left a minute later.

Detectives created a timeline using surveillance video from the Mount Horeb library, local shops and a gas station to determine that Berg’s car drove by the homicide location at County Highway JG right around the time Day was killed.

Berg’s father told detectives Berg hunts every day and has access to firearms and knives when hunting.

 

[Wendyb1063]

A few more details, but still the big question of "why?".

Blood stains link suspect to town of Blue Mounds homicide, police say

 

[MntnHiker]

According to the above article: "Day’s body was found by a passerby on Highway JG shortly after 1 p.m. on Jan. 15, just moments after she had passed him running along the highway and then returned home to retrieve something she’d forgotten, according to the complaint. "

Wow so the timeline was REALLY tight. Probably mere minutes.

 

[MntnHiker]

And he didn't just shoot at him out a car window--he was stabbed 11 times in the neck, which means the killer getting out of the car and doing this in broad daylight on the side of the road. Very brazen. He probably missed being caught in the act by only a couple minutes or even seconds since the woman had just passed Nicholas alive and well.

 

[momsof3]

Wow..sounds like this suspect was diagnosed with a serious mental illness in 2017 and maybe not always compliant with his meds? If this is true his poor family are also victims in this tragedy. As a nation, we have to look more closely at solutions to our mental illness problems, but that's just moo and I have no idea what those solutions should be. Just a very tragic story.

I had the same thought. My heart broke for Day family reading these articles and then broke again for the suspect’s father in the second article. Berg was a college student before his diagnosis and you can almost hear the pain in his father’s voice that his son is dropping out of college following his diagnosis. We need to find a solution for medically non-compliant adults so that the public is not at risk.

ETA - I’m rethinking this a little as I read more but one of those solutions might be to make sure your non-compliant schizophrenic family member doesn’t have access to firearms.

ETA again - this was some amazing police work. Narrowing down the time frame, collecting the videos, tracking down witnesses. This should serve as some sort of model - no motive (or inexplicable motive) random crimes seem the hardest to solve.

Here is some other news on the arrest. It is unclear how (or even if) the suspect knew Day. The suspect appears to have a history of schizophrenia based on the second link below.

“Shocked”: Neighbors of Nicholas Day homicide suspect react to arrest

Arrest made in town of Blue Mounds homicide; motive unknown

 

[wendybtn]

Wow..sounds like this suspect was diagnosed with a serious mental illness in 2017 and maybe not always compliant with his meds? If this is true his poor family are also victims in this tragedy. As a nation, we have to look more closely at solutions to our mental illness problems, but that's just moo and I have no idea what those solutions should be. Just a very tragic story.

Yes, most seriously mentally ill person's are non-compliant with medications at some point. However, we cannot make them take them unless it goes through a whole court process. RN '87

 

[Wendyb1063]

Yes, most seriously mentally ill person's are non-compliant with medications at some point. However, we cannot make them take them unless it goes through a whole court process. RN '87

It is sounding more and more like this is what happened.
Blue Mounds homicide victim suffered from gunshot, 11 sharp object wounds, medical examiner says

 

[Wendyb1063]

A few more details on the ongoing investigation:
Sheriff: Berg may have tried to destroy evidence of Blue Mounds homicide

 

[Wendyb1063]

This is probably expected:

Competency exam ordered for Mount Horeb man charged with killing jogger in Blue Mounds

 

[wendybtn]

Mount Horeb man found competent to stand trial for murder of Navy veteran

A Dane County judge has found a Mount Horeb man competent to stand trial for killing a Navy veteran last year.

www.wkow.com

Riley Berg ruled mentally competent for trial.

 

[wendybtn]

Riley Berg sentenced to life in prison for jogger murder, eligible for parole beginning in 2053

The man who has struggled with his mental health for years and admitted to killing a Navy veteran at the side of a rural Dane County road will not have the possibility of parole until the summer of 2053, a Dane County judge ruled Thursday.

www.channel3000.com

Riley Berg pled guilty to first degree intentional homicide and may request a parole hearing in 2053.