Colene  July 23 1996, law enforcement officials were called to a home north of Osakis MN., in a rural setting.   William Norman Wenzel husband of the deceased, stated that he was sitting of the couch when he pulled the trigger on a 40 caliber handgun resulting in Colene Margaret  being shot in the head.  William Wenzel stated that his wife arrived home from work shortly after 12:00 am. The Wenzels 3 1/2 year old son was also up at that time, since he had been picked up by his wife Colene from daycare on her way home from work. Wenzel stated that he had been drinking rum and cokes earlier in the evening .  Wenzel stated that he was always playing with the above described handgun, because he only had the gun a couple of months and was getting used to it. Wenzel further stated that the gun was a lot different with regard to it's safeties. He had used the gun several times but has never cleaned it.  Wenzel had been playing with the gun prior to and after his wife had arrived home, including taking the clip in and out all night, toying with the hammer, trigger and safety, and  dry firing the weapon at the television set. Defendant was aware there were active rounds in the clip. Defendant was also aware that the 40 caliber handgun may have been defective (which was proven otherwise by the BCA,  Bureau of Criminal Apprehension,  that it was not defective). He stated that you could push the safety off and pull the trigger and the hammer would snap back. He thought this could be a defect and stated the gun should not do that.  Just prior to the time of the shooting, defendant was talking with his wife abut the gun and telling her how the safety was acting funny, and showing her how the gun worked. Wenzel  stated that he was not talking to his wife at the time the gun went off, but was pointing it when he pulled the trigger discharging it, resulting in the fatal gunshot wound to his wife Colene.  Wenzel does not remember if the clip was in the gun or on a chair at the time. The 40 caliber handgun was found at the scene with the clip in the handgun with three rounds in the clip and one in the chamber.  The Wenzel's 3 1/2 year old son was still awake at the time of the shooting. The child stated to Deputy Corey Heid that he heard his mother say "PUT THE GUN DOWN" prior to the gun discharging.  The above facts constitute basis for believing that in the county of Todd, State of Minnesota, the above named defendant committed the following described offense:  COUNT 1, OFFENSE: MANSLAUGHTER IN THE 2ND DEGREE  IN VIOLATION OF:              M. S. S.  609.205   (1)  MAXIMUM PENALTY:         TEN YEARS IMPRISONMENT AND/OR A $20,000 FINE  7/25/1996     Prosecuting Attorney:    Charles Rasmussen,  Todd County Attorney   After suffering 6 years of abuse, our daughter Colene (in our opinion) was finally murdered by her husband. By claiming it was an  "Accident" he was only charged with 2nd degree manslaughter. We ( my wife and I) adamantly opposed any type of plea bargain but to no avail. They plea bargained him down to 2 years, minimum sentence for such a crime is 4 years. Mr. Rasmussen wanted to let him out early to take care of his son.  Throughout Jonathan's 3 1/2 years Mr. Wenzel was never a father to the child, My wife and I watched him 5 nights while our daughter worked, while Mr. Wenzel was unemployed more often than working, and could have been able to watch Jonathan but refused. We have daycare receipts  from 2 different daycare’s plus the daycare operators who'll confirm that in 3 1/2 years Mr. Wenzel only picked his son up once, and his parents only picked him up a few times.  It is a very tragic situation that We have gone through, however the real crime is underway.  After her death We were in touch with Social Security Office and had Colene's Social Security survivors benefit put into an account just for Jonathan, (i.e. college fund, tech school, etc.) We were in charge of this money. While Mr. Wenzel was out on bail he was keeping Jonathan from us, supposedly so we wouldn't say anything bad about him in front of Jonathan. My wife had on several occasions asked them if they needed anything for Jonathan, to buy them and bring a receipt and we'll reimburse them for expenses. Sometimes they'd say he needed a jacket' mittens or something. We'd buy it out of our own pocket rather than using Jonathan's.  In court we offered to provide custody for Jonathan. We both have been at our jobs for 8 & 10 years respectively, have good health insurance through work, would be able to provide a stable non-smoking environment for him. Instead, he signed custody over to his brother and sister in law, who have 4 children of their own.  Now here's the crime and something We are very angry about.  How the Wenzel family raised a protest at the Social Security Office that we had control of our grandson's benefits and pursuaded them since they have custody of Jonathan to switch Jonathan's survivors benefit over to them, and also asked us to return any money we had recieved prior to that time.  Mr. Wenzel according to Social Security rules will never be able to have control  over Jonathan's Survivors benefit.  They do not have to show receipts , be audited  to show where they spend that money.   I believe as of right now his brother and sister are abusing his money, with that money 448.00 dollars a month.  They should be able to afford new clothes the right size instead of hand me down from their youngest son who is 2 sizes smaller than Jonathan, this is just my opinion, but it sure seems coincidental that the restitution Mr. Wenzel had to pay us for costs concerning her death, after they received Jonathan's money was paid to us in full. That should be paid back by Mr. Wenzel not with Jonathan’s money.  My wife and I are suing for custody of our Grandchild whom we have pretty much raised along with our daughter for the 3 1/2 years of his life.  He has stated to us on more than one occasion that he'd rather stay with us. He has 4 other children to contend with in their house, for attention, they have refused him any counseling. One of the times we had him for a weekend, we noticed some cavities in his teeth, we informed them about them, it took them 2 months before they did any thing about it.  If you are for victims rights,  stand up for Jonathan because he is the real victim here. It is HIS SOCIAL SECURITY SURVIVORS BENEFIT,  It should be in a safe place only to be used for HIM  not to benefit his uncles, aunts cousin's and worst of all his father for killing his mother, as long as they are in control of that money, HE is  in control of it also.  We adamantly feel that any member on his side of the family should not profit from Colene's death.  This was our story up to March of 1997:  Many things have transpired since then.  Our suing for custody, only to receive court ordered visits.   Our son-in-law release from prison/jail, in May of 1998.  Regaining full custody of grandson. We tried mediation, that the court recommended,   anything agreed upon during mediation, has not been adhered to.  His attorney avoided us and our atty all summer to ensure son in law had time to find a job, a  place to live and get grandson in school before wanting to settle.  Jonathan (our grandson) loves his daddy, and as long as he's not being mistreated, will be patient and wait.  This man is an abuser, and will eventually do it again,  I just hope and pray nothing happens to Jonathan, in the meantime.  Thank You  David Navratil  712 Meadow Lark Dr SW  Alexandria  MN  56308  e-mail  [email protected]  web site  http://www.geocities.com/heartland/prairie/6972