Manhunt expands for suspect in New Lisbon triple homicide

Federal agencies have joined local law enforcement in the search for the suspect in a Juneau County triple homicide.

Prosecutors charged 47-year-old Virgil Thew for the shooting deaths of his girlfriend, 33-year-old Elizabeth Kolba, his 12-year-old step-daughter and the girl’s 13-year-old friend. The victims’ bodies were discovered at Thew’s mother’s house on Dec. 30.

The FBI and U.S. Marshal Service have joined local agencies in their search for Thew, according to a Monday statement from the New Lisbon Police Department.

Thew was last spotted on Jan. 1. His image was captured by a trail camera in a wooded area just outside New Lisbon, according to the criminal complaint.

Thew was charged Friday in Juneau County with three counts of first degree intentional homicide.

In a statewide crime alert issued Friday, New Lisbon police said Thew “may now be out of the area.”

Investigators are looking for leads on the car Thew may be driving, according to the most recent statement from police.

Prosecutors outline discovery of victims

On the morning of Dec. 30, New Lisbon Police Chief Kyle Walker got a call about a missing child, according to the criminal complaint.

The 13-year-old girl’s father said her phone’s location was at a West Bridge Street address in New Lisbon. It was Thew’s mother’s house. He lived there as her caretaker along with his girlfriend, Kolba.

According to the criminal complaint, Walker went to the home and spoke to Thew’s mother, who told him she was there alone, and that she’d last seen the 13 year-old on Dec. 29 with Thew’s 12 year-old stepdaughter, who lives with Thew part of the time. Walker visited the girl’s mother, who said her daughter “should be” at Thew’s house.

Around noon, according to the criminal complaint, police got a call about Thew trespassing on a property near New Lisbon with “a sleeping bag that conceals a long straight item, consistent with the size and shape of a long gun.” At that location, they found Thew’s car and his keys.

Later that afternoon, police received a 911 call from Thew’s house. Two acquaintances searching for the 13-year-old had broken down the locked door to Thew’s room and found the bodies of Kolba and the two girls on a bed.

Thew’s keys fit the lock. In interviews with police, Thew’s mother said she hadn’t seen anyone besides Thew and the victims at the house in the preceding days. His sister said she didn’t believe anyone else would’ve had keys to his room “due to his level of concern regarding privacy and potential theft.”

The next day’s autopsy determined all three victims had gunshot wounds to the head.

Local police said Thew “should be considered armed and dangerous,” and asked people to call 911 if they see him.