Lee Newspapers

A man sought in a fatal shooting in southeastern Wisconsin drove to Jackson County and committed suicide Saturday in the woods south of Melrose, the Jackson County Sheriff's Department said.

In a suicide note found with his body Saturday night in a wooded area south of Melrose, David L. Spencer, 55, confessed to killing another man while his ex-girlfriend looked on early Saturday morning at the Red Oaks Motel near Kenosha, Kenosha County authorities said.

They identified the man Spencer killed as Roy Villareal, 62, who had been living at the motel in the town of Somers in Kenosha County.

The Jackson County Sheriff's Office had been notified that Spencer might be on his way to a Sand Lake Road property near Melrose because he apparently had been there in the past hunting with his relatives.

Sand Lake Road is located south of Melrose along Hwy. 108 across from the Melrose Rod and Gun Club.

The property owner, who lives in Sparta, was cooperative and allowed deputies to search the area Saturday, but Spencer was not found, the sheriff's office said in a press release.

Later, it was reported the vehicle Spencer might have been driving had been seen in the Sparta area.

Jackson County sheriff's deputies returned to the approximately 360-acre Sand Lake Road property and at about 1:50 p.m. found the vehicle unoccupied.

At that point, La Crosse County and Monroe County officers joined in the search of the property and buildings near Spencer's vehicle and found that an all-terrain vehicle owned by one of the local property owners was missing.

Police established a perimeter around the property with the Jackson County Emergency Response Team and the La Crosse County Sheriff's Department Bearcat tactical vehicle.

The ATV and Spencer's body were located about 7:45 p.m. in a heavily wooded area about one-half mile south/southeast of Sand Lake Road. It appeared he died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, Jackson County authorities said.

A suicide note and 12-gauge shotgun were found at the scene. An autopsy was conducted Sunday in Eau Claire.

Initial reports indicate the woman knew both Villareal and Spencer, and jealousy appears to be the motive for the shooting early Saturday, according to the Kenosha County Sheriff's Department.

The shooting was the culmination of a love triangle, the Kenosha News reported.