1410 WIZM

Where was Eric Koula at the time his parents were shot to death last May?

Investigators are testifying in court today about what Koula was doing in the days before and after his mother and father died at their Barre Mills home. He's accused of shooting both Dennis and Merna Koula on the afternoon of May 21st, with his father's 22-caliber rifle. Police say Koula told them he was helping a friend do some tile work and then went shopping for flowers during the time when it's believed that the murders occurred. The coroner who performed the autopsies on the Koula's says she can't establish a specific time for when they died. But a La Crosse policeman says Merna Koula was shot while working on a computer...at about 5:41 p-m that Friday afternoon. Eric Koula could enter a 'not guilty' plea this afternoon.

 

Dan Kapanke may feel the pinch of this one. La Crosse political analyst Joe Heim says the latest ethics complaint from the state democratic party about Kapanke's business dealings may stick in the craw of some voters.   He says when the headlines scream about ethics and money laundering, those allegations tend to have an impact on the perceptions of voters and are likely to have an effect on the efficacy of a candidate running for office.

 

Heim feels the democratic party's complaint is based on something relatively minor.   Kapanke has said he erred by paying a team debt to the city out of a charitable foundation but has since paid the foundation back out of team coffers.