OSHKOSH, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — A third suspect arrested in connection with a stabbing murder in Neenah was charged Thursday, albeit not in direct connection to the death, when police looking for a knife found a gun instead.
Charles Hoofman, 51, was charged with possession of a firearm by an outstate felon.
Mandel Roy and Terran Colwell each face felony murder counts in connection with the April 17 death of Rodger Ridgeway.
Neenah Police identified Hoofman as a third suspect in the murder, but the charge filed Thursday is not directly related to Ridgeway’s death.
According to the criminal complaint, police listened to a recording of a phone call Hoofman made while in the Winnebago County jail. In it, Hoofman asked a man to go to his apartment and retrieve his birth certificate and an “antique tool.”
Police got a search warrant, hoping to find a knife which may have been used in the stabbing. Instead, a loaded firearm was found, the complaint states. Noting his conviction on drug case from Arkansas, the felon in possession of a firearm count was filed.
Hoofman made an initial appearance Thursday in Winnebago County Court. He will be released on a signature bond, but ordered not to have contact with Roy and Terran. Hoofman returns to court May 24 for a status conference.
Roy’s mother got into a confrontation with those inside a bar. After he arrived, there was another altercation, and Ridgeway was stabbed.
“The evidence obtained by Neenah Police Department investigators shows that Mandel Roy began fighting with (Ridgeway), committing at least a battery, using a blunt weapon. Terran Colwell also became involved in the fight, likely stabbing (Ridgeway) with a knife, causing injuries that resulted in (Ridgeway)’s death. Roy and Colwell continued to fight with (Ridgeway) even after his apparent attempts to get away,” Roy’s criminal complaint states.
Roy has a preliminary hearing May 21. Colwell was arrested in Minnesota and is awaiting extradition to Wisconsin.
