A Wisconsin man who shot a newlywed couple dead in a sports bar killed them for less than $150, police have revealed.
On 1 February, Gina Weingart, 37, and Emerson Weingart, 33, were killed inside the Sports Page Barr in downtown Elkhorn.
Thomas Routt Jr., 57 has since been charged with two counts of first-degree intentional homicide.
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"Initial investigation focused on eyewitness evidence, including an eyewitness that was inside the bar at the time of the shooting," a press release from Elkhorn police began.
"That eyewitness said a male, now believed by law enforcement to be Routt, came into the bar and began playing the gaming machine."
The eyewitness went on to claim Routt brandished a handgun and pointed it at Gina, the bartender, and ordered her not to move.
The unidentified individual then got up off their barstool, with Routt apparently pointing the gun at them as well.
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This is when the eyewitness sat back down, before Routt allegedly fired a shot at Gina, as the onlooker immediately fled out of the bar and called 911.
Routt was arrested by the Walworth County Sheriff’s Office at 3:40am local time on 4 February on a Department of Corrections hold while he was on parole for arson.
"Routt subsequently admitted to shooting both Emerson and Gina Weingart and following the eyewitness out the back door and shooting at the eyewitness as they fled,” police said in a press release.
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On top of the first-degree intentional homicide charges, Rout also faces charges of attempted first-degree intentional homicide, armed robbery, and felon in possession of a firearm.
"Routt said the next morning he discarded the weapon and ammunition in a trash receptacle at the Handi-Mart in Lake Como,” police added.
Local authorities later retrieved a 9mm handgun and ammo from the garbage.
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The parolee told investigators that he opened fire at the sports bar with the intention of robbing the establishment, with police adding that he took between $120 and $140 from a cash drawer before fleeing.
Routt appeared in court on Friday (16 February), where Walworth County District Attorney Zeke Wiedenfeld addressed the courtroom.
The attorney said: "The defendant killed two people and attempted to kill a third."
Routt is due to appear in court again on Wednesday (21 February).
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“We will be pleading not guilty,” his attorney, Russell Jones, told CBS 58. “It wouldn’t surprise me if there were surveillance cameras, but at this point we have not been provided any video footage of anything.”
Callum Jones