HOLMEN, Wis.  — The criminal complaint accusing a Winona man of first-degree murder claims he was at the Holmen house the night that a romantic rival was bludgeoned and strangled to death. Jacob Andrew Klaver’s cell phone places him at the house at 10:28 p.m., according to police.  Roughly seven hours later, police found Josh Edward Pigney, 37, dead in an upstairs bedroom. Pigney’s girlfriend had phoned police at 5:38 a.m. that she found him unresponsive in an upstairs bedroom. The girlfriend told police that she and Pigney had a minor argument the evening before and that she had fallen sleep on a downstairs sofa. She had been drinking, she said. At some point, she told police, she perhaps heard a commotion upstairs but, half asleep, couldn’t be sure. It’s a large split-level house, 3,100 square feet with four bedrooms. She reported going upstairs when Pigney hadn’t gotten up at his usual time. He was unresponsive and the bedroom in shambles, she said. The house was without power. She ran next door and called 911. The criminal complaint does not name the girlfriend, but the house at 815 Granum Street is owned by Mary Kathryn George, age 35. Neighbors said she he moved in a year ago.

Klaver, an ex-boyfriend

The girlfriend pointed police to Klaver, an ex-boyfriend who she said had been stalking her. She described him as “very scary.” She told police that she installed security cameras outside the home because of Klaver’s behavior. Authorities were notified in Winona, where Klaver lived. Meanwhile, Holmen police used  cellphone tracking tools for Klaver’s whereabouts in the window during which the attack occurred. Aside from Klaver being at the Holmen address at 10:28 p.m., other cellphone data and surveillance video paint only a fragmentary and somewhat confusing timeline and map. Cameras show Klaver’s car in Winona, 27 miles and 34 minutes from Holmen, at 11:04, 11:06 and 11:08 p.m. Klaver’s cellphone has him in the LaCrosse suburb of West Salem, 12 miles southeast of Holmen, at 1:44 a.m. At some point during night the power at the Holmen house was cut off, which disabled the Holmen security cameras.

Search for Klaver

Pigney. Bludgeoned and strangled to death. A family photo.

Klaver. Accused of premeditated homicide. A jail booking photo.

Some details are cloudy, but an investigator from LaCrosse County, where Holmen is located, reportedly traveled later in the day to Winona, beyond the usual LaCrosse jurisdiction, to question Klaver. At Klaver’s address, 755 East Fifth Street, Klaver didn’t respond, but the investigator, who then returned to his car down the street, said he saw Klaver leave the house. Acting on a LaCrosse County warrant, Winona police arrested Klaver at the Fifth Street address at 8:17 p.m. Wednesday. This was four days after the murder. While being booked, officers recorded Klaver had small cuts on his hands, two black eyes, and bruising. He later told investigators that the cuts were from work and that he fell down while walking his dog a few days before. About his whereabouts when the murder occurred, Klaver said he was at home all night on Saturday into Sunday morning and specifically denied being ether in Holmen or West Salem despite cellphone tracks reported by police. What about his injuries? Authorities who interviewed two of Klaver’s co-workers, who were with him on Saturday afternoon. said they didn’t see any injuries. At the Winona jail, while being booked, Klaver said he felt unwell. At a news briefing on Thursday, Sheriff Ron Ganrude declined to discuss the medical issue.  Ganrude would not go beyond quoting Klaver that he hadn’t taken his medication. A diabetic coma?  A heart attack? A chronic behavioral condition? Ganrude wouldn’t say, but Klaver was taken immediately to the Winona hospital. The emergency doctor diagnosed the situation as needing attention at a higher-level trauma center. Klaver was transported to Gundersen Hospital in LaCrosse. While he was being treated at Gundersen and then convalescing, Holmen police stationed an armed guard at his door.

Missing money, burglary tools

Holmen. 815 Granum Street, where murder occurred.

Winona. 755 East Fifth Street, where Klaver arrested.

At the murder scene, Pigney’s girlfriend told police that $5,000 secured by a black clip was missing. The money, she said, was intended for a car purchase. How had an intruder entered the house? Police, the complaint says, found searches on Klaver’s phone for lock-picking devices. Police also found searches for how to disable security cameras: “Will flipping a breaker disable domestic security cameras?” A money clip also was fouund ag Kraver’s Winona address.

Autopsy

Pigney, a sturdy man, was well-known in motorcycle racing circles. He was pronounced dead in the Holmen upstairs bedroom by police. He died of blunt force trauma and strangulation, according to the autopsy. There had been a struggle. Police found blood, overturned and busted furniture, and a bladeless fan split into two parts. The power was out, apparently cut off by the intruder. Without power, home security cameras weren’t functioning.

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