A “person of interest” taken into custody in connection with the shooting death of a newlywed couple at a Wisconsin sports bar has turned out to be a parolee with a lengthy rap sheet after serving several years in federal prison.
Thomas Root Jr. was charged in connection with the deaths of Gina Weingart, 37, and her husband, Emerson Weingart, 33, who were shot to death on Feb. 1 at the Sports Page Bar in Elkhorn. Detained. Reported by TMJ4.
Russell Jones, a criminal defense attorney hired by Rout’s family, told the outlet that his client maintained that Rout was not involved in the incident and maintains his innocence.
Root, who has served several years in federal prison for a long list of convictions including arson, robbery and forgery, was sent to Walworth County Jail on corrections hold because of his extensive rap sheet, TMJ4 reported.
Jones said his client could be held longer than the normal 72 hours because of his parole status.
Mr. Ruedt has not been formally charged in the shooting deaths of the Weingart family.
“Authorities are focusing on investigative leads that led to the identification of a person of interest over the weekend,” Elkhorn Police said in a statement Tuesday.
“The individuals involved have been detained on an unrelated matter as authorities continue their investigation,” they added, without giving their names.
Authorities did not provide additional information “to protect the integrity of the ongoing investigation.”
Correction record Quoted in Wisconsin Right Now Raut was released on parole in August 2020 for robbery charges, but it is shown that he was jailed for arson.
The newspaper said he was appointed chairman of the state parole board by John Tate, a controversial appointee of Gov. Tony Evers.
“The sentencing court deemed Raut’s “horrific crime” of setting fire to his ex-stepmother’s house while the family attended another daughter’s wedding as “one of the worst crimes ever committed.” According to a description of the crime in a Wisconsin Court of Appeals order cited by Wisconsin Right Now.
“This is one of the sickest and most dangerous types.”[s] It was arson for revenge, it was arson for the purpose of inflicting great pain on the victims, and that is what happened.”
The Court of Appeal rejected Mr Rout’s request to be removed from community supervision in 2023, the paper said.
According to Wisconsin Right Now, Rout appeared in a video for Gateway Tech College, where she is a campus ambassador, and said she was sexually abused as a child and suffered from depression. It is said that they are doing so.
He said he dabbled in drugs and was imprisoned in 1995, serving 25 years before being released in 2020.
Police said the Weingarts, who married last summer, were the only two at the bar when a man with a gun walked in just after midnight last Thursday.
Multiple agencies rushed to the scene after receiving reports of a shooting at the store where Gina worked. The newlyweds were found with fatal gunshot wounds, and the culprit was nowhere to be found.
Police have not released a motive or profile of the suspect, nor have they said whether the couple were specifically targeted by the killer or whether it was a random attack.
But Emerson’s father, Jeff Weingart, strongly believes someone must have witnessed something.
“It’s heartbreaking. Somebody saw them. Somebody saw them. I don’t care, I wouldn’t get away with something like that,” he told WIS told.
“I can’t believe it was just her and him at the bar. So someone saw them, someone had to describe them, and someone saw the car as he drove away. He had to, and they had better find him,” said the grieving father.
His son and daughter-in-law, who grew up in Wisconsin, started dating in 2020 and quickly became “inseparable.” According to their obituaries.
