Feb. 5: Farm worker held in slayings of family in Waseca

WASECA, MINN. -- The man arrested in the shooting of a couple and their 13-year-old son early Saturday near Waseca, Minn., did not know the family, authorities said Sunday afternoon.

Husband and father Tracy Kruger, 40, and Alec Kruger, 13, were killed when an intruder broke into their farmhouse shortly before 3:30 a.m.

Hilary Kruger, 41, wife and mother, remained in critical condition Sunday at North Memorial Medical Center in Robbinsdale, according to authorities and friends.

Investigators identified the suspect as Michael S. Zabawa, 24, of Matawan, Minn., who worked at a hog farm in Waseca County. Chief Deputy Sheriff Brad Milbrath said Zabawa "gave us statements that put him in the house."

Milbrath said the suspect got his pickup truck stuck in a snowy ditch in front of the Krugers' home.

He then stole the Krugers' Ford Explorer to try to pull out his pickup, but again became stuck.

At some point, Milbrath said, the suspect broke into the Krugers' house, where Tracy Kruger confronted him.

Authorities had said Saturday that Alec Kruger called 911 at 3:23 a.m. to report an intruder. The dispatcher heard gunshots and the line went silent.

The three victims were shot on the second floor of the house, Milbrath said. Preliminary indications are that the shotgun used belonged to the Krugers, he said. Hilary Kruger was shot in the upper torso; Milbrath wouldn't say where the others were shot.

The Krugers' youngest son, Zak, a fourth-grader, was spending the night at a friend's house and now is with relatives, authorities said.

They wouldn't say anything about a possible motive, whether anything was taken from the house or whether the suspect was drunk or high.

The arrest stunned Zabawa's employers and co-workers on the Woodville Township hog farm.

Peter Zimmerman, an owner of the family farm, said Zabawa was a responsible and skilled swine technician who had worked at the farm since July, caring for newborn piglets. Zabawa was mechanically inclined and was willing to stay late to fix whatever needed it, Zimmerman said.

"He was an ordinary, run-of-the-mill guy who showed up on time, did the work, did a good job, got along with his co-workers, and was just kind of a quiet guy," Zimmerman said. "We didn't have any reason to think badly of him."

He said he never saw indications of mental problems or violence in Zabawa.

"It really is out of character," Zimmerman said.

"Both my wife and my daughter have worked with him in the past at my operation," Zimmerman said. "They've never had any problems with him, had no trouble working with him. We have quite a few employees, and there was never anything about him that was brought to my attention, or that would really give me reason to worry."

At a news conference Sunday, Milbrath said the suspect went to the Krugers' neighbor's house and stole an old farm pickup, which he drove to his home -- about 15 miles from the Krugers'.

Authorities traced the pickup truck in the ditch outside the Krugers' home to the suspect and took him into custody about 7:30 a.m. Saturday. They also found the Krugers' neighbor's truck, and got a warrant to search it.

Milbrath said the suspect's previous offenses include mostly traffic violations and a gross misdemeanor theft charge.

The investigative reports will be turned over to the Waseca County attorney's office today for charges.

From the opening prayers Sunday morning at Grace Lutheran Church in Waseca, the tragedy was revisited often by the Rev. Roger Haug, senior pastor, and the Rev. Dan Doering, the church's associate pastor, who rewrote his sermon to try to answer the question: "Why does God let this happen?"

Doering said he hasn't slept since he heard the news, and he was still at a loss. "I need to say, I don't know why stuff like this happens."

But what he did know, he said, was that "Tracy will rise again. Alec will rise again. We will see them again."

Haug said that he'd talked to Hilary Kruger's boss earlier in the day, who told the pastor that Hilary "was alert -- or at least awake."

Haug later said he'd learned that a doctor had said Saturday that the first 24 hours would be essential to Hilary's recovery, and that if she did survive it would be a "miracle."That's occurred," Haug said. "It's a miracle. She's alive."

Tracy Kruger's former vocational-education teacher, Ward Ask, was at church Sunday morning. He was remembered as a "tremendous kid" who turned into a tremendous man.

Ask said he's taught hundreds of kids, yet maintained connections to only a dozen or so former students and was proud to count Tracy among them.

Tracy Kruger and his brother, Tony, who is a member of Grace Lutheran, co-owned a construction company.

Before that, Tracy Kruger ran an auto body shop near Waterville, Ask said. Four years ago, Ask's son had gotten in a minor car accident, and Kruger patched the car up.

Sensing that Ask's son, then a college student, might be short on money, Kruger refused to take any payment for the work, Ask said.

"Fixed it for free," Ask said. "That's just the kind of guy he was."

Tom Anderson of Byron, Minn., had known Tracy Kruger for the past couple of years. Both were snowmobile aficionados and Kruger knew everything there was to know about vintage snowmobiles.

Anderson said of the family, "I've never seen a group of people who got along so well together. This guy was just so easygoing; took the time to talk to his family; never loud, never pushy.

"I'm extremely shocked," Anderson said of the shooting. "It really hits home, you know, the old cliche, the good die young."

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