Meet the Kunz’s:
In order to fully understand the horrors of these murders we must first learn about the victims.
The Family:
We start out with Clarence Kunz. A quiet man, son of Anna and Ignates Kunz. Anna and Ignates moved to Athens, WI after leaving Manitowoc, WI in 1914. Anna’s brother, Wendell bludgeoned her mother to death with an iron whilst Anna was visiting with a friend. Wendell joined his brother, Joesph Kunz in an insane asylum that described that family as, “weak minded” and noted that Wendell, “appears stupid, stands in one place without moving for hours on end”. Clarence was known for enjoying movies of the pornographic nature. He often would watch these movies at home with his sisters. Helen had even told a clerk at the local hardware store that if the family didn’t stop watching that ‘smut’ she was going to go mad.
Helen, Irene and Marie are Clarence’s sisters. The girls were quiet and most of the town didn’t even realize that poor Marie even existed due to the family keeping her hidden away in order to hide the fact that Marie couldn’t read or write. Clarence, Marie, Irene and Helen all slept in the same bed growing up, which is a trait that carried with them into adulthood.
Helen ended up with two children, Kenny and Randy Kunz. We are unsure of who the father of Kenny Kunz is, however it is strongly suspected that Clarence, his uncle, was indeed Kenny’s father. Randy is believed to be a product of rape. Helen claimed that Frank Gumz raped her in 1932 resulting in the conception of Randy Kunz. If you ask the townsfolk they will tell you that the rape was a cover up for Clarence Kunz fathering another child from his sister Helen.
The Kunz family lived a modest life, living solely off of their social security checks, which they hoarded away in their home and Kenny’s wages from the cheese factory.
The Scene:
It was a humid Fourth of July back in 1987 in Athens, WI when four citizens of this small town would be brutally murdered in their own home.
On July 5th, 1987 Kenny Kunz came home to a nightmare. His aunt, Marie, is lying dead on the steps of their modest home in the small township of Byrne just outside of Athens, WI.
Kenny proceeds to step over his aunt, Marie, who has one gunshot to the head. She is slumped over against the wall on the front stairs. He walks in the door he can hear the radio still playing the Brewers/Angels game. He then looks and sees his father, Clarence, dead in living room bed, which was shared by Clarence and Marie. Clarence had two gunshot wounds to the right side of his head, one directly below his right eye. He was believed to be asleep and shot at a close range in the face twice due to the amount of gunpowder residue found on Clarence’s face and neck.
Kenny, sobering up from the holiday celebrations walks further into the house to find his brother, Randy Kunz, dead on the kitchen floor. Randy’s body shows visible signs of a struggle. Randy suffered blunt force trauma to his head, two gunshot wounds to the back of the head and was grazed by a bullet on his right shoulder,
Kenny then moves through all of the trash and debris in the home to his aunt Irene’s room. He notices Irene is sitting in her chair facing away from him towards the TV. As Kenny slowly walked up to Irene, he noticed that her head was slumped over. She had suffered a gunshot wound to the back of her head. The Alfred Hitchcock magazine still in her lap.
Kenny was in shock begins looking for the last remaining member of his family, his mom Helen. She is nowhere to be found. Where could the 70 year old woman have gone?
Kenny doesn’t bother to look for Helen for long before calling the police to report the homicide of his family and the disappearance of his mother, Helen.
The Investigation:
In the early morning hours of July 5th, 1987, the Marathon County police receive a phone call from a distraught and very hung over Kenny Kunz. He is calling to report the murders of three members of his family and the disappearance of his 70 year mother. The only remaining family member Kenny has left.
Police race to the scene to find Kenny outside of the house near his trailer. He is muttering to himself and reeks of alcohol. The police proceed to go inside of the residence where it doesn’t take long before they find their first victim, Marie Kunz. Dead. Shot in the head and slumped over in the doorway of the home she shared with her brother, two sisters. and nephew. Due to the severe amount of hoarding that took place at the Kunz residence it was difficult for the police to make their way through the home. Once they make it through the mess they see Clarence on a bed that is in the living room. He has been shot twice in the face at close range. The police note the peculiarity of the living room and the enormous amount of pornography around the room that was furnished with two beds; one was for Clarence and Marie and the other was Helen’s; a TV, VCR and purses full of cash and undeposited social security checks laying around.
They make their way to the next room where Irene Kunz is found slumped over in her chair facing the TV with a gunshot wound to the back of her head. She probably didn’t even realize her fate. She was hearing impaired and may not her heard the gunshots that killed her sister and brother just outside of her room. She is holding an Alfred Hitchcock magazine and dressed quite strangely. She in a black sweater, babushka, leather stocking and winter boots.
They proceed to the kitchen to find their final victim surrounded by cash and checks thrown around the room. Randy Kunz’s body shows clear signs of a struggle. His shoulder shows the mark of a bullet that grazed him and two gunshot wounds to the right side of his head. He also has blunt force trauma to his head, thought to be proof of an altercation between Randy and the perp(s).
The police make note of the severe hoarding and condition of the home. The home was in such poor condition that many officers had to leave due to the smell. There was no running water going to the home and the extreme clutter made it difficult for the police to collect evidence.
The police have several questions, but the most pressing one is where is Helen??
The Investigation:
The police question Kenny Kunz who tells them that he was at the cheese factory that he works at all night and ended up sleeping in his car so that he didn’t drive home drunk. All that he knows is that Helen and Randy went into Athens to watch the annual 4th of July fireworks.
One of the investigators finds fresh tire tracks on the Kunz property and notice that Randy’s car is missing. Could Helen have driven off? Did the person or persons who killed her family take her in Randy’s car to another location?
As the bodies of Clarence, Irene, Marie and Randy are taken to the morgue in a pickup truck, due to the county not being able to get a hearse or ambulance to transport the bodies, a theory begins to develop. Rumors around town are that Randy Kunz is a known drug dealer. Could this have been the reason for his family’s demise?
Weeks go by and they still have no suspects in the Kunz case and poor Helen is still missing. They know of a young punk in town by the name of Chris Jacobs III. They decide to go over to Mr. Jacobs house to ask him a few questions. Chris explains to the police that he was in Medford, a town down the road a spell, to watch the fireworks with his then girlfriend, Stacy Weiss. He explains that he couldn’t have possibly committed the murders. The police notice tire tracks on the Jacobs property that look an awful lot like the tire tracks found on the Kunz property. They question Chris, but he sticks to his story.
Over a year passes and still no sign of Helen Kunz..that is until one day in March of 1988 when two boys go fishing and discover the badly decaying body of Ms. Helen Kunz. The medical examiner’s report states that she was shot in the head with a .22 caliber weapon and shows signs of rape.
The police return to Chris Jacobs III’s house with a warrant. They take casts of the tire tracks, find 29 shell casings from a Remington Nylon 66 that Chris’ mother had bought back in 1975, but no gun. The casts of the tires end up being a big win for the police. Chris Jacobs III tire had a rare slit in it and that rare slit was also found in the tire tracks on the Kunz property. That is not the only win for the state. The 29 shell cases found in Chris’ room match the .22 caliber weapon used to kill the Kunz family.
On October 2nd, 1989 Chris Jacobs III stands trial for the murders of Clarence, Helen, Irene, Marie and Randy Kunz. The theory is that Chris Jacobs III came by the Kunz’s to buy a car from Randy. Chris had bought a car a little while back from Randy and as he was going into the house for the bill of sale noticed all of the money just laying around. There was cash, purses and checks just everywhere in the mess of the house. They believe Chris came back around 10:30pm on the night of July 4th, 1987 and killed the entire Kunz family, taking Helen, money and disappearing into the night with Randy’s car.
Chris Jacobs III murder trial for the brutal murders of four members of the Kunz family ended with a stunning “not guilty” verdict.
The Ending Nobody Expected:
The Kunz family murder still remains unsolved, however one day before the statute of limitations is up on the rape of Helen Kunz, the police once again arrest Chris Jacobs III. This time his former girlfriend, Stacy Weiss, testifies that Chris told her he murdered the Kunz family and raped Helen to prove that he was a man. Ms. Weiss’s robbery charges are dropped because of her cooperation in testifying against Chris Jacobs III. The DA, Rand Krueger, also presented a tire receipt proving that Chris Jacobs III bought the tires that match the tracks at the Kunz house. On July 7, 1993; Chris Jacobs III is convicted of the rape of Helen Kunz and sentenced to thirty years in prison. He is set to be released in 2029 after returning to prison for a probation violation in 2024, just hours after his release. Chris Jacobs III states that it is not safe for him to return to the community that believes he is a murderer and rapist. He stated he is safer in prison and will serve his full sentence.
In this sad, but true tale of incest, murder and money, many still believe that the wrong man is behind bars. We must remember that no matter how one chooses to live their life it does not mean that their murder is any less tragic. The small community of Athens, WI will never forget that day, back in the summer of 1987. The smell of fresh cut grass, gunpowder and blood still lingered with Kenny Kunz up until the day of his death in 2001 at the age of 68. I had the pleasure of meeting Kenny Kunz, a quiet, shy man who still lived on the property where his family was massacred on that fateful night back in 1987. The house was demolished, but Kenny kept his meek trailer on the property and continued working at the dairy until he retired.