Man facing terrorist threat charge enters insanity plea

Grafton resident who posted bail is accused of saying he planned to shoot dentist, game warden
By 
BILL SCHANEN IV
Ozaukee Press staff

A 61-year-old Town of Grafton man accused of threatening to shoot a dentist and his staff as well as a Department of Natural Resources conservation warden pleaded not guilty by reason of mental disease in Ozaukee County Circuit Court last week to the charges he faces.

Jeffrey M. Knapp, who was arrested Friday, Sept. 20, outside his home and business, Bucky’s Taxidermy, after sheriff’s deputies tased and shot him with bean bag rounds, technically pleaded not guilty and not guilty by reason of mental disease to felony counts of making terrorist threats and threatening to harm a law enforcement officer and a misdemeanor charge of obstructing officers during an Oct. 24 court hearing.

When a so-called insanity plea is entered, it must first be determined if the defendant committed the crimes he is charged with, then whether he is responsible for them.

Knapp, who was being treated in the behavioral health unit of an area facility when he was charged on Oct. 11, was subsequently booked in the county jail, then released after posting $20,000 bail, according to court records.

The charges against Knapp are based in part on interviews with the dentist and one of Knapp’s friends, who provided detailed accounts of the threats he made. His friend said Knapp even told him he had three scenarios for killing the dentist, saying he would either shoot him from a tree stand, go to his home and make his wife watch as he shot him or go to his dental clinic with a shotgun and shoot the dentist and everyone else there, according to a criminal complaint.

Knapp’s friend said he was terrified the dentist and his family were in danger, noting that Knapp had numerous guns, was usually drunk and had threatened to kill himself after shooting the dentist, the complaint states.

After Knapp’s friend called the dentist on Sept. 20 to tell him about the threats, the dentist, who was out of town at the time, informed his staff of the possible danger and his family left home and went into hiding.

The dentist told authorities that Knapp first threatened him on Sept. 14 when he went to Bucky’s Taxidermy to pick up an item he had ordered.

The dentist said at first Knapp appeared normal although drunk, but then he began to rant and threatened to kill him and conservation warden Tony Young, according to the complaint.

The dentist said Knapp told him a story about a confrontation that occurred when Young came to his house. Knapp said he grabbed the warden’s gun out of his holster and told him to back off, adding that he would shoot Young if he came to his house again and said the wrong thing, the complaint states.

Knapp made up the story, Ozaukee Undersheriff Marshall Hermann said.

“We spoke to the warden and there was no confrontation and he was not disarmed by Knapp,” Hermann said. “It was a fabricated story that Knapp told the witness, possibly as a way to intimidate him or due to his mental health crisis.”

The dentist said although he was very concerned about his Sept. 14 encounter with Knapp, he did not initially report the threats to authorities because he wanted to give Knapp time to deal with the recent death of his daughter, according to the complaint.

The dentist did, however, report the threats on Sept. 20 after being told by Knapp’s friend that he and his family were in danger.

That is when officers descended on Knapp’s home and business on Trailway Court. His wife left the house followed by Knapp, who walked to a detached garage, got into his truck and drove to the end of the driveway at a high rate of speed, gesturing at and making derogatory comments to officers, the complaint states.

Knapp got out of the truck and walked toward officers. He initially ignored commands, but then lied face down on the ground as he was ordered to do.

Knapp, however, then stood up, resisted officers and began walking back to his house. After an officer attempted unsuccessfully to tase Knapp, and because of his mental state, the homicidal and suicidal threats he made and his failure to comply with authorities, a deputy fired “less-lethal” bean bag rounds at him. The first round missed him. A second round appeared to strike him in the back but Knapp continued to ignore commands. A third round clearly hit Knapp and he went to the ground and was arrested, according to the complaint.

  During the Oct. 24 court hearing, Knapp waived his right to a preliminary hearing and was bound over for trial by Ozaukee County Circuit Judge Adam Gerol.

As conditions of Knapp’s bail, Gerol ordered him to surrender his guns to authorities, maintain absolute sobriety and wear an alcohol monitoring device.

Threatening to harm a law enforcement officer is punishable by a maximum three years in prison and three years of extended supervision. Making a terrorist threat is punishable by 1-1/2 years in prison and two years of extended supervision.

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Wisconsin’s largest paid circulation community weekly newspaper. Serving Port Washington, Saukville, Grafton, Fredonia, Belgium, as well as Ozaukee County government. Locally owned and printed in Port Washington, Wisconsin.

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