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A hunting trip turns deadly, and a community recoils.
IT WAS A CRISP SUNDAY AFTERNOON in the Northwoods of Wisconsin, soaring trees naked in a fading autumn, the fields cleared by harvest and white-tail deer in abundance. For sportsmen, it's a slice of heaven. But on Nov. 21, a few hunters noticed something amiss: a trespasser, clad in orange blaze, perched in a tree stand on private property. They approached the man, Chai Vang. After words were spoken, Vang walked away. Then came terror. Precisely what, if anything, provoked it will be sorted out in court. What is certain is that six hunters are dead, a father and son among them, and Vang, 36, has been jailed for their murders.
Vang, a Hmong immigrant, claims the white hunters fired first, after taunting him with racial slurs, according to court papers filed last week. But police say evidence shows that Vang ran through the woods after his unarmed victims, even shooting one in the back as he...