A Washington County judge on Wednesday set bail at $6 million for the man charged with killing his former girlfriend and her boyfriend last month while her four young children were in the home.

Local attorneys said this was among the highest bail amounts they could recall in the Twin Cities, where $1 million to $2 million is more common.

The state wanted a high bail because of the double-murder charges and because Steve Van Keuren violated his bail release conditions after he was accused of burglarizing and assaulting Teri Lee at her home in July, said Susan Harris, spokeswoman for the county attorney's office. He had been ordered to stay at least a mile from her home.

On Wednesday, the prosecutor asked for bail of $5 million, but Judge Mary Hannon tacked on an extra million to ensure that Van Keuren didn't post bail as he had in July, Harris said.

In the July burglary and assault case, the prosecutor asked for $100,000 bail, but a judge set bail at $75,000, for which Van Keuren posted a bond and was released.

Van Keuren, 46, of River Falls, Wis., made his first court appearance Wednesday after being released from Regions Hospital the night before, officials said. He faces two counts of second-degree murder in the shooting deaths of Lee, 38, and Tim Hawkinson Sr., 47. They were found shot to death in Lee's home in West Lakeland Township on Sept. 22.

Van Keuren was wounded by a Washington County SWAT team that entered Lee's home that night. He also wounded himself, police said. Lee's four young children were unharmed and two ran to tell a neighbor, who called police. Two of the children hid in a closet until police arrived.

Van Keuren wore a neck brace in court Wednesday and spoke in whispers because of his injuries, Harris said. He is expected to have hired an attorney by his next hearing on Tuesday, she said.

Peter Cahill, chief deputy Hennepin County attorney, said judges usually take into account flight risk and a defendant's assets when setting bails in homicide cases.

Cahill said the only higher bail he could recall was the $10 million bail set for millionaire Russell Lund, 59, in 1992. Lund was charged with murdering his estranged wife and her boyfriend in the Lund's Minnetonka home. Lund committed suicide in a treatment facility after posting a bail bond.

Richard Frase, a criminal law professor at the University of Minnesota Law School, said he had never heard of such a high bail. He said Minnesota judges, unlike federal judges, cannot deny bail for someone they think is too dangerous or too likely to flee to release. So the alternative is for a judge to make bail unaffordable.

Frase said public opinion or outrage about a case is not a legally recognized reason for high bail, but might enter a judge's mind along with other factors. Practically speaking, he said, a $1 million bail, which would cost $100,000 and $900,000 in collateral to post, is just as unaffordable for most people as a $6 million bail.

Jim Adams • 612-673-7658 • jadams@startribune.com