La Crosse Police Chief Ron Tischer says surveillance video played a "huge part" in the investigation that led to the arrest of Jeffry Lepsch in the shooting deaths of May's Photo owner Paul Petras and his son AJ Petras.
At a Thursday news conference, Tischer described the events that occurred the day of the homicides inside May's Photo at 425 Main in downtown La Crosse.
Chief Tischer, says the videos, combined with the hundreds of hours of legwork done by investigators "was crucial to breaking this case."
Tischer says the surveillance video showed a man entering the store at 153pm. The man was also seen in the store at 230pm by an eyewitness. The store was supposed to close at 2pm.
Finally at 258pm, the man is seen carrying four bags and a backpack from the store then getting back in a blue van.
Additional surveillance video found by investigators and shown to Pischke Motors owner Rahn Pischke identified the van as a 2001-2007 Dodge Caravan with an upside down trailer hitch.
After tracking down potential vehicles, the van was finally located in Dakota, Minnesota, says Tischer, by an investigator with the state Department of Criminal Investigation. The van was registered to Angie Lepsch.
Search warrants of the van and the Lepsch home, according to Tischer, turned up more than a dozen pieces of camera equipment taken from May's Photo.
Investigators briefly talked to Jeffry Lepsch about the case before he stopped talking and asked for a lawyer. He was later taken into custody without incident. Lepsch is now in the Winona County jail awaiting extradition back to Wisconsin to face the charges.
Jeffry P. Lepsch
