Wisconsin father found guilty of shooting son during second trial

A St. Croix County jury found a western Wisconsin father guilty of second-degree reckless homicide in the shooting death of his son following the man's second trial on Tuesday.

Kayle Alan Fleischauer was charged with the shooting death of his 19-year-old son, Chase Fleischauer, back in April 2018 at his New Richmond Township home.

"We won the battle but lost the war because we still don't have our Chase, it's bittersweet," said Tara Cockriel, a cousin of the victim. The defense tried to paint the death as Chase shot himself after a night of drinking with his father. The father's pistol was found 10 feet away from Chase's body according to evidence presented in the trial that started last week. The two got into some sort of altercation in the home prosecutors said before the deadly shot was fired.

The jury deliberated for 2.5 hours before returning the guilty verdict. Chase Fleischauer played football at a Brainerd college, before that he stared on the Tartan High School team in Oakdale.

Father on trial for second time in connection to son's shooting death

"Dancing, silly and always smiling," is how Melissa Garay-Triviski described Chase who would often hang out at her home with her son and the rest of the Tartan High School Football team. "It's a nightmare, from that first time my son called me in April 2018, said what has happened, it's been a nightmare ever since," Garay-Triviski said.

Chase's family said they are so thankful for his sister Somer Johnson-Fleischauer's strength who testified in both trials.

She told the jury that she was asleep at the time of the shooting at her father's home where she and her brother were both spending the night. In 911 audio played during the trial, Johnson-Fleischauer is heard attempting and doing CPR on her brother and repeatedly ask her father for his address to get help to the scene.

"Seeing him [Kayle] led out today… that was a victory," Cockriel said.

The 44-year-old Fleischauer will be sentenced later this spring, he could face up to 25 years for the crime.

5 EYEWITNESS NEWS reached out to his attorney for comment after the verdict.

A different jury found Fleischauer guilty in the death in 2019, but later in the summer, the judge ordered a new trial after discovering juror misconduct.