WAUPACA, WI (WTAQ) – Three men from Waupaca County are facing up to ten years in prison for what’s being described as a fatal homemade fireworks incident.
Kenneth Niemer, Scott Mattes, and Robert Mattes made initial court appearances on Wednesday.
All three of those men are being charged with homicide by negligent handling of explosives.
According to Detective Cameron Durrant, the trio signed their $25,000 bonds and were released Wednesday.
According to the criminal complaint, the homemade cannon explosion at a town of Dupont home killed the group’s friend, 44-year-old Paul Casperson of Belvidere, Illinois.
“They were having a reunion party and they decided to entertain themselves by setting off explosives,” says Waupaca County District Attorney, Veronica Isherwood.
In her mind, the fatal incident was totally accidentally.
“These are all people that don’t have a criminal record, all have strong ties in the community, we don’t believe there was anything intentional about this,” says Isherwood.
The men were using a 4-foot-long, half-inch-thick steel pipe, according to the criminal complaint.
“Niemer indicated he had brought a pipe, that he had manipulated with a plug welded onto the bottom, over to the party. He described the device as a “cannon”. He indicated “we dumped shotgun powder in the tube. We lit it once and it just flared up. We did it again but this time we used some paper toweling and put it in the pipe with a stick. We all stood by the fence. (The victim) was standing by the side of the camper. When it went off, he landed on the ground,” the complaint states.
Scott Mattes dropped an aerosol can of WD-40 down the pipe, after the first failed attempt, and then Robert Mattes again lit the fuse, the complaint says.
The complaint states that first aid efforts were unsuccessful and Casperson died of a “penetrating fragment wound of the abdomen” with a steel fragment removed during the autopsy.
“Fireworks is dangerous enough but when you make your own it’s that much more dangerous,” explains Isherwood.
According to the complaint, Casperson’s wife took two videos of the incident.
Niemer and Scott Mattes are due back in court June 11, while a future court date for Robert Mattes was not set.
The men face up to ten years in prison if convicted.
