Cha Vang, a 30-year-old Hmong father of five who had emigrated from a refugee camp two years earlier, was hunting with friends in the Peshtigo Harbor Wildlife Area in northeastern Wisconsin when he was reported missing on the evening of January 6, 2007. His body was found the next morning, partially concealed under a log and other debris. An autopsy found he had been shot from a distance with a shotgun and stabbed multiple times in the face and neck.

Investigators identified 28-year-old logger James Nichols as a suspect after he sought treatment for a gunshot wound the same day Vang’s body was discovered. Nichols admitted to killing Vang but said it was in self-defense, offering inconsistent accounts of what happened; his fiancée said he had initially panicked and did not report the incident because he was on probation.

Nichols was charged with first-degree intentional homicide, hiding a corpse, and being a felon in possession of a firearm; he pleaded not guilty. A jury convicted him in October 2007 of second-degree intentional homicide and the other counts, and he was sentenced to 60 years. Members of the Hmong community expressed disappointment, saying the maximum sentence should have been imposed. Does anyone who knew Cha Vang or was in the area that winter have information that could add to the record?