Background: The area leading into Pewitt's Nest Nature Preserve on County Road West in the Township of Baraboo, Wisconsin (WKOW/YouTube). Inset left: George Paul (Sauk County Sheriff's Office). Inset right: Susan Paul (Hooverson Funeral Home).
A man accused of killing his wife at a Wisconsin nature preserve and calling her a "creature" will have to appear in court later this month, according to court records.
George Paul, 80, has been charged with first-degree intentional homicide in the death of 80-year-old Susan Paul, according to the Sauk County Sheriff's Office and court records reviewed by Law&Crime. He has also been charged with intentionally pointing a firearm at a person, first-degree recklessly endangering safety, criminal damage to property and discharging a firearm within 100 yards of a building.
A judge issued a finding Tuesday that Paul is competent to stand trial, according to the trial docket.
The case dates back to May 8, when the married couple was at Pewitt's Nest Nature Preserve on County Road West in the Township of Baraboo, Wisconsin. The area is located about 50 miles northwest of Madison, the state capital.
According to the sheriff's office, multiple witnesses that afternoon saw a man "pulling a female from a vehicle before shooting her multiple times and fleeing the scene." The witnesses called law enforcement, and deputies arrived to find the woman, later identified as Susan Paul, dead from "multiple close range gunshot wounds in the parking lot of the nature preserve."
About an hour later, deputies discovered that a man, later identified as George Paul, "had driven into the parking lot of the Sauk Prairie Police Department in a Kia Carnival minivan, exited the van, and fired several gunshots into the front door and vestibule of the police department." No staff members were injured.
Police detained Paul and "determined this was the same subject and suspect vehicle from the earlier shooting incident at Pewitt's Nest."
When interviewed by detectives, George Paul claimed that his wife was actually a "creature" who had been posing as his wife for decades, according to a criminal complaint obtained by regional CBS affiliate WISC. He allegedly also had conspiracy theories that such creatures were trying to take over the world and said he shot at the police department to get officers' attention.
George Paul was reportedly known to law enforcement as a man with dementia, and he reportedly had called before and threatened to shoot a police staffer. He allegedly admitted to killing his wife, and when cops arrested him, they apparently found a pistol, a purse and blood inside his vehicle.
The defendant has a preliminary hearing scheduled for Oct. 15.
Susan Paul's obituary says she met George Paul in college, "and the two embarked on a loving, 60-year relationship." She accompanied her husband to Japan during his military service and was a teacher there.
She left behind two children and several grandchildren and other relatives.
"We will miss her smile, her laughs, and her hugs. Her unwavering belief in all of us to be kind," the obituary adds. "Our lives are forever changed without her. We reflect on the love she gave us and aspire to share it with others."