ELKHORN, Wis. (CBS 58) — More than a dozen witnesses testified on day two of a jury trial for a man accused of killing newlyweds at an Elkhorn bar last year.
Thomas Routt is charged with shooting Emerson and Gina Weingart in an armed robbery.
The Walworth County district attorney called several people up to testify in court, including those who saw the shooting, those who heard it, and those who responded to the aftermath at The Sports Page Barr in Elkhorn just after midnight on Feb. 1, 2024.
Investigators say Routt also shot at a third person, the only other person in the bar at the time, but she wasn't hit.
That woman, Ashley Ketterhagen, took the stand on Tuesday. She said she was in the bar when she saw a man shoot Gina Weingart.
"He shot right at her. I'm so scared that he shot her," Ketterhagen said in a 911 call that was played for the jury.
On the stand today, she identified Thomas Routt as the man who fired the gun.
"What did you do when the firearm shot?" the DA asked.
"I instinctively, without even thinking, I just got out of my seat and ran for the back door as fast as I could," Ketterhagen said.
The jury also saw body camera video from some of the first officers to arrive at the scene.
Another witness, who lived at the Nickel Plate Hotel above the bar, said he ran downstairs after hearing the gunshots and found Gina's husband, Emerson Weingart, on the ground.
"He was laying in fetal position towards the bar. I didn't touch him, I just said, 'Hey buddy, are you okay? Hey, hey, hey,'" said witness Joshua Jinkerson. "When I looked at him, he had, as it were, appeared to be a bullet wound in his thigh, and he had his hat on, and it looked like he had blood coming from his head area."
In his opening statement Tuesday morning, District Attorney Zeke Wiedenfeld said his evidence will show that the Weingarts were shot and killed by Thomas Routt.
Wiedenfeld said Routt admitted to the shooting and armed robbery, both to investigators and to his mother through a jail phone call, and the jury will see and hear this evidence.
Routt's defense attorney, Russell Jones, told the jury to scrutinize everything they're shown, and remember that Routt has to be presumed innocent.
Jones said he jury will also see video of police interrogations. He claims police lied to Routt in order to manipulate him.
The trial continues Wednesday with more testimony.
It's expected to last all week.