MEDFORD, WI (WTAQ) – A northern Wisconsin man will spend 16 years in prison for killing a deer hunter and injuring another while driving drunk.
43-year-old James Winchel of Sheldon must also spend 18 years under extended supervision once he gets out.
A jury convicted Winchel of six Taylor County felonies — including homicide and injury by drunk driving. 3 counts of driving with prohibited blood alcohol levels were dropped before his sentencing Friday.
Prosecutors said two deer hunters were standing on a snow-covered road near Gilman in November of 2013, when Winchel struck them with his car. It was going at least 50 miles an hour at the time.
52-year-old Juan Salinas of Roscoe Illinois was killed. One of his relatives and Winchel were treated at hospitals for injuries Winchel’s blood alcohol level at the time was 0.196, almost two-and-a-half times the legal limit.
Winchel had been convicted of 4 previous OWI charges since 1998.
Taylor County Circuit Judge Ann Knox-Bauer said the defendant had a “cavalier attitude” toward drunk driving — and hunting while drunk. He played “Russian Roulette” with a loaded weapon.
(Story courtesy of Wheeler News Service)
