CHICAGO — A man accused of killing an Eau Claire woman in 2016 was arrested in Mexico and deported to U.S. authorities in Chicago. The next stop for Shane Helmbrecht, 51, will be the Eau Claire County jail to await a decision on what to do with him. In 2017 Helmbrecht was found incompetent to stand trial in the murder of Jenny Ward in Eau Claire and was ordered to a mental health facility. This September he walked away from a group home at the Tomah Veterans Hospital. In October he was stopped by Pojoaque tribal police near Santa Fe, New Mexico. Without sufficient information to hold him Helmbrecht was released. Somehow he made it 3another 320 miles to the Mexico bide and crossed over.
2016 homicide
Jenny Ward, age 36, was shot and killed during an early morning break-in at her Eau Claire home. Ward’s children, who were hiding in the home, told police that Helmbrecht called her a demon as he fired multiple bullets into her from a 30-10 Winchester rifle. When police responded, they found Helmbrecht trying to flee and took him into custody at gun point. Helmbrecht told police that voices in his head told him to do it. But why? He said he had “cast demons to hell.” But why? “Because they eat babies.” Helmbrecht, 44 at the time, was an Iraq and Afghanistan war veteran possibly with a post-traumatic disorder. Helmbrecht admitted using methamphetamine the day before the shooting. Helmbrecht’s parents said they had urged him to seek medical attention but he refused.