The Murder of Neil LaFave
Neil LaFave On this day in 1971, Wisconsin game warden Neil LaFave failed to show up for his own birthday party. His absence prompted his wife Peggy to notify the police, who found his truck in a remote swampy area along with a pool of blood and two .22-caliber shells. His headless body was found in a shallow grave. When authorities found his head, they saw that it had two bullet wounds caused by a .22 shotgun. While serving as a game warden for Wisconsin's Sensiba Wildlife Area, Neil LaFave had earned a reputation for being tough on poachers. Every poacher that he had ever arrested was questioned and anyone who didn't have a solid alibi was asked to take a polygraph test. Only one person refused, 21-year-old Brian Hussong. LaFave had arrested Hussong for poaching multiple times. After authorities obtained a warrant for a wiretap of Hussong's phones, they overheard a conversation between Brian Hussong and his grandmother Agnes, in which she assured Brian that his guns...