WILLARD, WI (Wisconsin Radio Network) – An armed and dangerous fugitive who led law enforcement on a five-day manhunt after a fatal shooting last week in Rusk County was captured without incident Wednesday morning. According to the Ladysmith News, Preston Kraft had a weapon with him when he was arrested, but Chief Deputy Phil Grassmann reported that he offered no resistance.
Kraft is suspected of shooting and killing Robert Pettit during an argument at a home in the Town of Willard five days earlier, on May 18.
For five days Kraft hid in the dense woods, boggy swamps and steep terrain of the Blue Hills in the western part of the county, eluding dozens of officers from numerous jurisdictions.. “As far as I know he was in the woods the entire time,” said Grassman.
Kraft is charged in Rusk County Circuit Court with first degree intentional homicide and felony bail jumping.
