Suspect arrested for attempted murder after allegedly shooting neighbor amid dispute

(GREEN LAKE, Wis.) — Ryan Borgwardt, the husband and father who authorities said faked his own death at a lake and fled the country, has returned to the U.S. willingly and is now in custody in Wisconsin, the Green Lake County Sheriff’s Office announced on Wednesday.

Borgwardt — who is accused of intentionally misleading authorities to believe he drowned this summer — notified officials he was returning and he landed in the U.S. on Tuesday, Sheriff Mark Podoll said at a news conference, but the sheriff did not reveal from where he flew.

Podoll said authorities are still putting together where Borgwardt was and who he was with since he vanished in August, but said he’s “cooperated” with law enforcement.

Borgwardt “researched other individuals that had successfully disappeared recently,” including lake deaths and “how deep a body has to be without resurfacing,” according to the criminal complaint.

When he was abroad and trying to stay under the radar, Borgwardt said he checked the news but usually avoided clicking on articles, the complaint said. The criminal complaint mentions Borgwardt having been in the country of Georgia.

Borgwardt said when he did click on a news article, “he would use a VPN and sometimes make it look like he was in Russia or somewhere else other than Georgia,” the complaint said. “Ryan stated that he knew that Georgia would have to extradite him and he wanted to be informed and prepared.”

Asked what compelled Borgwardt to come back, Podoll said, “His family, I guess.”

Podoll did not say if Borgwardt has had contact with his wife and children.

Borgwardt, who is charged with obstructing an officer, made his first court appearance on Wednesday. He faces up to a $10,000 fine and nine months in prison for alleged obstruction of an officer.

A signature bond was set at $500, since he “voluntarily turned himself in” from “halfway around the world,” the judge said. When the judge asked if he could afford any bail, Borgwardt replied, “I have $20 in my wallet.”

The case began on Aug. 11, when Borgwardt texted his wife that he was turning his kayak around on Green Lake and heading to shore soon, Podoll said.

But the dad of three never came home.

Responders found Borgwardt’s overturned kayak and life jacket in the lake and believed he drowned, officials said.

Crews scoured the lake for weeks using divers, drones, sonar and cadaver K-9s, but never found him, officials said.

In October, investigators discovered Borgwardt’s name had been checked by law enforcement in Canada two days after he vanished on the lake, the sheriff said.

Authorities also learned Borgwardt had been communicating with a woman from Uzbekistan, the sheriff said.

Borgwardt’s other suspicious behavior included: clearing his browsers the day he disappeared, inquiring about moving funds to foreign banks, obtaining a new passport and getting a new life insurance policy, the sheriff said.

Authorities determined Borgwardt was alive and likely in Eastern Europe or western Asia, but they didn’t know exactly where he was located. Authorities made contact with a woman who speaks Russian, and in November, they reached Borgwardt through that woman, authorities said.

Borgwardt said when he got the email from authorities, his “heart hit the floor,” the complaint said.

Borgwardt told police he was safe but didn’t reveal his location, the sheriff said.

Borgwardt did reveal to authorities how he faked his death.

“He stashed an e-bike near the boat launch. He paddled his kayak in a child-sized floating boat out into the lake. He overturned the kayak and dumped his phone in the lake,” the sheriff said at a news conference in November. “He paddled the inflatable boat to shore and got on his e-bike and rode through the night to Madison, [Wisconsin]. In Madison, he boarded a bus and went to Detroit, and then the Canadian border.”

Borgwardt said the Canadian Border Patrol was “suspicious” that he didn’t have a driver’s license or flight itinerary with him, but “ultimately, they allowed him to continue,” according to the complaint.

At the airport in Toronto, Borgwardt said he bought a flight to Paris.

On the plane, Borgwardt said he searched for news in Green Lake and saw “something about the missing kayaker and believes that his plan had worked,” according to the complaint.

After he landed in Paris he flew to a country in Asia, the complaint said.

An unidentified woman picked him up and they went to a hotel where they stayed for a couple of days, the complaint said.

Borgwardt was later in an apartment, according to a video he made for law enforcement.

No one else is facing charges, the sheriff said.

Asked if Borgwardt will be required to reimburse the county for the money spent on the search, Podoll told reporters, “That’s part of the restitution that we present to the court.”

He is next due in court on Jan. 13.

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(ATLANTA) — Vice President Kamala Harris will campaign with former President Barack Obama for the first time Thursday night in must-win Georgia at a star-studded rally near Atlanta to kick off her “When We Vote We Win” concert series to turn out voters in the election’s closing stretch.

Bruce Springsteen, whose music has peppered many Democratic presidential candidates’ set lists, is set to perform at the get-out-the-vote concert, with stars with Georgia ties joining Harris as well, including Spike Lee, Samuel L. Jackson, Tyler Perry and Mix Master David, according to the campaign.

A senior campaign official said they view these large events as ways to draw in large crowds of voters and to encourage them to cast their ballots early, and to sign up to volunteer for phone banking and door-knocking shifts.

Harris is set to appear with former first lady Michelle Obama in Michigan on Saturday, campaign officials said.

The Obamas endorsed Harris in July and both spoke at the Democratic National Convention in August.

As of Monday, more than 1.5 million Georgians voted early, surpassing the similar first eight days of early voting in 2022, 2020 and 2018, according to the office of the Georgia Secretary of State.

Georgia is a prime target for the Harris campaign as they look to hold on to a state President Joe Biden won by only 11,779 votes. And it’s bound to be close again. Former President Donald Trump is currently leading Harris in Georgia by 1.5%, according to 538’s polling average.

In the final days of the race, Harris’ team has enlisted celebrities to help share her message and get voters out during early voting periods across the country. On Saturday, Harris was joined by Lizzo in Detroit and Usher in Atlanta, while on Tuesday, Eminem introduced Obama at a Detroit rally.

Also, megastar Beyoncé is set to join the vice president at a rally in the singer’s hometown of Houston on Friday.

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(DELPHI, IN.) — Jury selection begins Monday in the long-awaited trial of a Delphi, Indiana, man accused of killing two teenage girls while they hiked on a local trail in broad daylight in 2017.

The case garnered national intrigue, and remained a mystery for over five years until suspect Richard Allen was arrested in October 2022. He’s pleaded not guilty to murder charges.

Here’s everything you need to know about the case.

The murders

On Feb. 13, 2017, best friends Abby Williams, 13, and Libby German, 14, were enjoying a day off from school in their hometown of Delphi, a quiet, small town of nearly 3,000 residents in central Indiana.

They were on a hiking trail, walking, chatting and snapping photos, when they disappeared.

Their bodies were found the next day.

Abby, who was raised by her single mother, hoped to pursue a career in forensic science.

Libby, a gifted athlete raised by her grandparents, wanted to work with the FBI and solve crimes.

Police have never released how the eighth graders were killed.

According to video recovered from one of the victim’s phones, Abby or Libby mentioned “gun” as a man approached them, and a .40-caliber unspent round was found less than 2 feet away from one of the bodies, according to a probable cause affidavit. But court documents also mention the involvement of a knife in the killings.

‘Down the hill’

In the aftermath of the shocking double slayings, authorities released a clip of the suspect’s voice — a recording of him saying “down the hill” — which was recovered from Libby’s phone.

According to the probable cause affidavit, a man was seen and heard telling the girls, “Guys, down the hill,” and Abby and Libby then went down the hill.

Authorities also released a grainy image of the suspect, who they say was on the trail the day the girls went missing. State police later circulated a brief video clip recovered from Libby’s phone that showed the suspect walking on the bridge near where the girls were last seen.

The arrest

For more than five years, the case remained unsolved, haunting Delphi residents.

Police released disparate sketches of possible suspects, and authorities announced that, while investigating the case, they “uncovered” a fake Snapchat and Instagram profile called “anthony_shots,” where the user used photos of a male model and communicated with underage girls in an attempt to meet them. The man suspected to be behind the “anthony_shots” account was later identified and not linked to Abby and Libby’s murders.

No suspect was named in the murders until Allen was arrested in October 2022.

Community members were shocked to learn that the suspect was a 50-year-old husband, father and Delphi resident who worked at the local CVS.

“How can somebody do that and then just go on living life like nothing happened?” Libby’s grandfather, Mike Patty, told ABC News hours after the arrest was announced.

Allen admitted to police that he was on the trail that day, but he denied any involvement in the murders, according to court documents.

Police analysis of Allen’s gun determined that the unspent round discovered within 2 feet of one of the victims “had been cycled through Richard M. Allen’s Sig Sauer Model P226,” the probable cause affidavit said.

“When asked about the unspent bullet, [Allen] did not have an explanation of why the bullet was found between” the girls’ bodies, the probable cause affidavit said.

When Allen voluntarily spoke to police on Oct. 26, 2022, he said he never allowed anyone to borrow that gun, which he said he owned since 2001, the document added.

Video from Libby’s phone showed a man wearing a dark jacket and jeans on the trail. In an October 2022 interview, Allen told investigators that he wore jeans and a blue or black Carhartt jacket that day on the trail, and Allen’s wife confirmed to police that he owns a blue Carhartt jacket, according to the probable cause affidavit.

Investigators believe Allen is the grainy suspect seen on Libby’s cellphone video. Investigators also claim he forced Abby and Libby down the hill to the spot where they were killed, according to the probable cause affidavit.

Investigators believe Allen was seen walking back to his car with “clothes that were muddy and bloody,” according to the probable cause affidavit.

Allen allegedly confessed to the killings several times in a jail phone call with his wife in April 2023, according to unsealed court documents.

“Soon after” that call with his wife, Allen’s attorneys filed an emergency motion saying his mental state had declined and he should be moved, alleging Westville Correctional Facility was unfit, the document said. He was evaluated by two psychiatrists and a psychologist who determined he didn’t need involuntary medication and didn’t need to be moved, according to the document.

The trial

The trial will be held at Delphi’s Carroll County courthouse. But jurors will be selected from residents of Allen County, which is over 100 miles away and encompasses Fort Wayne, Allen County Judge Frances Gull ruled last year.

Jury selection begins Monday in Fort Wayne, and once the jury is selected, the case will move to Delphi.

Gull said it makes sense to keep the trial in Carroll County, where witnesses and families live, saying the expense to move the proceedings would be “extraordinary.”

But she added, “It’s painfully clear that it would be impossible to find a jury in Carroll County not involved in this case.”

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