Mobile home fire in western Wisconsin leads to 1st-degree homicide charges
Joseph Hadro (Anoka County Sheriff's Office)
A fire at a mobile home in western Wisconsin last week is now a homicide case, with one suspect in custody, according to the Polk County Sheriff’s Office.
According to court records, Joseph Patrick Hadro, 44, faces one count of first-degree intentional homicide and one count of first-degree reckless homicide.
Hadro, who has no permanent address, is alleged to have killed Scott M. Zitzow. Zitzow’s body was discovered inside a mobile home Wednesday after emergency personnel responded to a call for a trailer fire shortly after 5 p.m. in the Robo Village trailer court in Osceola, Wisconsin.
Officers were told “two guys” were staying at the trailer in question, but neighbors did not believe they were inside the home. After forcing entry into the trailer, first responders discovered a deceased male in the bathroom, court records state.
While there were no apparent signs of injuries to the deceased from the fire, there were signs of bruising around the victim’s face, and “there appeared to be significant trauma to the left side of the male subject’s head, directly above the left ear,” according to the criminal complaint.
Law enforcement later identified a witness who agreed to cooperate with law enforcement, saying both he and the homeowner were present when the homicide occurred.
The witness told law enforcement that the three were present inside the mobile home, and the victim was in a back room. Hadro allegedly went back to the room and returned holding a hammer, telling the witnesses “he hit Zitzow in the face with the hammer three times.”
The witness recalled Hadro making a claim of the victim, Zitzow, dying from COVID-19 and that “Hadro was in possession of a hammer that had blood on it.”
According to the complaint, the witness claims to have taken the hammer from Hadro and thrown it into a corner.
Law enforcement has not located the hammer allegedly used to kill Zitzow, court records note.
Hadro is currently in custody in the Anoka County jail.