Thomas A. Routt Jr. (Elkhorn Police), Gina and Emerson Weingart and the scene outside of the Sports Page Barr after they were gunned down inside (WISN screenshots)
A 58-year-old man in Wisconsin will likely spend the rest of his days behind bars for killing a newlywed couple last year, gunning them down inside of a bar where the female victim was working as a bartender.
A jury in Walworth County on Friday deliberated for less than three hours before finding Thomas Routt guilty on two counts of first-degree intentional homicide and one count each of attempted first-degree intentional homicide, armed robbery, possession of a firearm by a felon in the slayings of Gina Weingart, 37, and Emerson Weingart, 33, court records reviewed by Law&Crime show.
Routt was also convicted on one count of possession of methamphetamine. He is facing a possible life sentence when he appears in court again on Sept. 26.
During the trial, prosecutors claimed that Routt confessed to the murders with specific details that only the killer could have known and also directed investigators to the firearm he used in the crime.
“There are details that he talks about that law enforcement didn”t give him. About the order of shots, about Emerson being on the phone at the time,” Walworth County District Attorney Zeke Wiedenfeld told jurors, according to a report from Milwaukee NBC affiliate WTMJ. “All of those little details that he has, those aren’t things that law enforcement gave him.”
Routt’s defense attorney, on the other hand, reportedly argued that his client’s confession was coerced following a traumatic interrogation that led to a “psychological breakdown.”
As previously reported by Law&Crime, deputies with the Walworth County Sheriff’s Office at about 12:11 a.m. on Feb. 1, 2024, responded to a 911 call reporting “shots fired and a person down” inside of the Sports Page Barr located at 29 1/2 South Wisconsin Street in Elkhorn. The establishment is about 45 miles southwest from Milwaukee.
Upon arriving at the scene, deputies and officers from the Elkhorn Police Department said they discovered the bodies of a male and a female — later identified as the Weingarts — inside the bar suffering from apparent gunshot wounds. They were both pronounced dead at the scene.
The agencies were assisted in the investigation by the Walworth County Medical Examiner’s Office, the Wisconsin State Crime Lab, and the Wisconsin State Patrol.
Police said there was only one person present in the bar at the time of the shooting. The witness told investigators that Routt “came into the bar and began playing the gaming machines.” After about 30 minutes, only the witness, the victims, and Routt remained in the bar.
“The eyewitness said Routt brandished a handgun and pointed it at Gina [Weingart], the bartender, and ordered them not to move,” police said in a news release following Routt’s arrest. “The eyewitness said they instinctively got up off their bar stool and Routt pointed the gun at the eyewitness and ordered the eyewitness not to move. The eyewitness said they sat back down and said Routt subsequently fired the gun at Gina [Weingart] and the eyewitness immediately fled out the door, calling 9-1-1 after distancing themself from the scene.”
Police said Routt followed the fleeing eyewitness out the door and fired several shots at them.
During a traffic stop on Feb. 5, 2024, authorities said they found methamphetamine on Routt and placed him under arrest, WTMJ reported. While in detention, Routt allegedly told investigators he wanted to speak with someone about the Elkhorn homicides.
Routt admitted to killing a man and a woman at the Sports Page Barr and to firing at least two shots at a witness who was fleeing the scene, the report states. He reportedly told police he did it “more than likely for the money.”
In his confession, Routt said that he pointed the firearm at Gina Weingart and told her to get on the ground, but claimed she “slapped the gun and it went off,” according to Milwaukee Fox affiliate WITI. He then allegedly said he shot the man — Emerson Weingart — who often stayed with his wife at the bar when she worked late shifts.
Routt walked over and “took $120 to $140 from the open cash register,” police said. Then, realizing Emerson Weingart was still alive, Routt shot him again.
Routt told police that the following morning, he discarded the weapon and ammunition in a trash receptacle at the Handi-Mart in Lake Como, Wisconsin. Police later retrieved a 9 mm handgun from that location.
According to an obituary, the couple were married less than a year after tying the knot in June 2023. They started dating in 2020 and became inseparable, the tribute said.
