Inset: Jacob Sanders (Mauston Police Department). Background: The Willows Motel in Mauston, Wisconsin, where Sanders allegedly killed his father (Google Maps).
A Wisconsin man who expressed “extreme frustration, hatred and anger” toward his father stabbed the 73-year-old man more than 25 times and then stole his classic car, cops say.
Jacob Sanders, 34, stands accused of first-degree intentional homicide in the death of Michael Sanders in Mauston, which is about 75 miles northwest of Madison. The Vigo County Sheriff”s Office in Indiana contacted the Juneau County Communications Center in Wisconsin around 4:15 p.m. on Jan. 21 about concerns about Michael Sanders’ welfare, the Mauston Police Department said in a press release.
A probable cause affidavit obtained by Law&Crime said the Vigo deputies detained Jacob Sanders for not having a driver’s license during a traffic stop when he was driving his father’s 1989 Chevrolet Caprice. Deputies spotted blood on his hand and he allegedly insisted he had permission to drive his father’s car, but they couldn’t get ahold of him. Jacob Sanders said he was driving to Tennessee to visit his grandmother’s grave.
Mauston cops went to the Willows Motel, where Michael Sanders lived. When they went inside, they found him dead on the bed with multiple stab wounds to his hands, neck and face. Cops learned the suspect lived in the next room over from his father. A search of the suspect’s room reportedly turned up a Karambit-style knife which has a curved blade with apparent blood on it.
Investigators spoke with the victim’s daughter, who allegedly said the culprit was likely her brother who did not get along with their father and “treats him like crap.” Cops had been to the motel the day before the slaying after the father called to have his son removed from his room. Jacob Sanders allegedly told the officer that he gets upset when his dad points his finger at him.
“It was a trigger,” he allegedly told an officer.
The suspect “expressed extreme frustration, hatred and anger” toward his father, cops wrote.
Jacob Sanders also was the sole beneficiary of his father’s life insurance policy, something the family was trying to change, cops wrote.
An autopsy determined Michael Sanders suffered 26 stab wounds to his body, some of which were defensive.
“[The victim’s] left index finger (pointer) is nearly severed off due to a sharp force injury, as well as his left thumb,” the affidavit said. His ear was also nearly severed from his body, the affidavit also noted.
The suspect remains in custody in Indiana, pending extradition back to Wisconsin.
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