Saratoga suspect dated victim's daughter

SARATOGA — The teen suspected of shooting to death a Saratoga woman last week had been dumped by the victim's daughter on the day of the shooting and may have been suicidal over the relationship's disintegration, according to court documents obtained Wednesday by Gannett Central Wisconsin Media.

Authorities are considering a charge of first-degree intentional homicide or first-degree reckless homicide in connection with the slaying.

Those are among the revelations contained in search warrant records filed in Wood County Circuit Court that shed more light on what happened Aug. 17, when police believe 17-year-old Miguel-Angel Oertel of Nekoosa fatally shot 47-year-old Theresa Coates at her Saratoga home before attempting to kill himself.

According to the search warrants:

Coates’ daughter, also 17, told police she had been in a relationship with Oertel but ended the relationship. That happened the day of the shooting, Wood County Sheriff’s Capt. Quentin Ellis said in an interview. Earlier that day, both teens pleaded no contest on criminal charges that they had stolen Coates’ car months before and left the state together.

The daughter told police that she had been communicating with Oertel on a tablet computer the day of the shooting. Oertel threatened in those conversations to kill himself, and the daughter called the Juneau County Sheriff’s Office about his statements.

Juneau County authorities notified Wood County that Oertel had made suicidal threats and was traveling to Saratoga. Wood County did not have a deputy immediately available to respond, according to an audio recording of a conversation between Juneau County and Wood County dispatchers also obtained by Gannett Central Wisconsin Media.

“It’s going to be a little while,” a Wood County dispatcher said. “I don’t have any deputies to send out that way, but as soon as I do, we’ll get somebody heading that way.”

But Wood County dispatchers did ask that a Port Edwards police officer watch for the vehicle Oertel was driving, Lori Heideman, Wood County’s dispatch manager, said Wednesday in an interview.

When Oertel arrived at Coates’ home at 6010 Church Ave., he was holding a shotgun and said he was “going to come and say good-bye,” the search warrant docments say. The daughter then asked her mother to call 911.

Oertel entered the house and the daughter ran after him; he did not have to force his way into the residence, Ellis told Gannett Central Wisconsin Media.

Oertel then shot Coates in the abdomen and pointed the gun toward his jaw and pulled the trigger, the search warrant records say. What may have provoked Oertel is not clear, but the daughter told authorities she believed Oertel may have entered the home to prevent Coates from calling for help.

The daughter then phoned 911.

Officers arrived at the house around 10 p.m. and found Coates in a hallway. Oertel was in the same hallway with a gunshot wound to his head.

Coates was flown to a local hospital and later pronounced dead, and Oertel was also hospitalized. He remains in critical condition and under guard, but is conscious and cooperating with police, according to Ellis.

Investigators have collected DNA from Oertel, as well as various materials from the crime scene, including cell phones, laptops, tablet computers and clothing with red stains. Some of those materials are being analyzed at the state Crime Lab, Ellis said.

Ellis declined to comment on whether police are reviewing social media accounts of people involved in the investigation. It is premature, he said, to say when charges might be filed.

Wood County District Attorney Craig Lambert did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

—Jonathan Anderson can be reached at janderson9@gannett.com or 715-898-7010. Find him on Twitter as @jonathanderson