A Wisconsin man accused of a reign of terror on both sides of the St. Croix River in 2003 is expected to plead guilty Monday morning in Hudson to additional felony charges.
Zachary R. Wiegand, 32, was charged in March in connection with an armored car robbery in which he's accused of taking $238,000 at gunpoint. He also was charged with car theft and arson.
Wiegand, of Dresser, pleaded guilty Feb. 20 in Washington County District Court to first-degree attempted murder in the shooting of Julie Bever the night of May 28, 2003. He had tried to force her from her car on a dark road in Lake Elmo, and when she attempted to drive off he shot her four times. Bever survived but underwent several surgeries.
Wiegand's five felony charges in Wisconsin allege that after he shot Bever he stole a van from a woman who stopped to help. The van was found burned the next day near a Hudson cemetery, soon after two security guards working for American Security LLC were robbed in the parking lot of Citizens State Bank.
According to the complaint, Wiegand disarmed the guards of their .40-caliber pistols at gunpoint and ordered them to load four money bags into the stolen van. He was arrested in October 2008 at a Wal-Mart where he worked in St. Croix Falls, Wis., after a Washington County detective traced a handgun found in Minneapolis to him.
In May, a Washington County judge sentenced Wiegand to 12 years in prison for shooting Bever. Under the agreement, three other felony charges were dropped.
Eric Johnson, district attorney in St. Croix County, said he couldn't reveal the terms of the agreement in the Wisconsin charges before today's hearing before Judge Eric Lundell.
"We're in discussions and we're hoping for a resolution," he said last week. "It's a significant case, there's no doubt about that."
