Wisconsin man accused of fatally shooting his parents, who owned a well-known cheese factory

OSHKOSH, Wis. (TCD) — A 25-year-old man faces murder charges after he allegedly gunned down his parents in their home by shooting them both in the head.

According to the Winnebago County Sheriff’s Office, on March 18 at 5:15 a.m., deputies responded to a home in Wolf River and found 72-year-old David Metzig and his wife, 71-year-old Jan Metzig, deceased inside. The Sheriff’s Office called their deaths “suspicious in nature” and said they had a person of interest in custody.

The same day, the Fox Valley Metro Police Department announced officers arrested the person of interest at the Heart of the Valley YMCA in Kimberly.

WLUK-TV reports David and Jan Metzig’s son Erik Metzig was booked into the Winnebago County Jail on two counts of first-degree intentional homicide. The Metzigs owned and operated Union Star Cheese, which has been in the Metzig family for three generations.

According to Erik Metzig’s criminal complaint shared by WLUK, someone called 911 at 5:16 a.m. and hung up, so deputies conducted a welfare check at the residence on Metzig Road. Deputies knew the Metzigs ran Union Star Cheese, and they went to the business but could not locate David or Jan.

Deputies spoke to Erik Metzig’s brother, who escorted them to the home. Inside, they found David and Jan Metzig “in their bedroom, covered in blankets, with bags over their heads, and deceased from apparent gunshot wounds.”

There was a “significant amount of blood” around their bodies.

The brother said Erik Metzig should have been home, but his car was not in the garage. Deputies obtained a warrant to search the rest of the home and found an AR-style rifle on the kitchen table with a loaded magazine. The brother told deputies Erik “had recently shown interest in these weapons.”

Inside the garage, deputies located blood where Erik Metzig usually parked his car, as well as bloody glasses, David Metzig’s checkbook, and some clothing.

Police found Erik Metzig at the YMCA because someone called and said he was “wandering around their parking lot” acting suspiciously. He allegedly went inside to the men’s locker room. A YMCA staff member followed him in and found him on a bench using a towel as a pillow. He allegedly told the staff member he was “upset about his family and also that he was not homeless.”

He eventually left the locker room and sat in the lobby. Deputies searched his car and found “red smears” on the driver’s side visor and roof liner.

Metzig was reportedly wearing yellow-toned shooting glasses, which are primarily used for shielding eyes at gun ranges.

Detectives reportedly also found a 9 mm Glock handgun in a garbage bag in his parking stall and a journal in which he allegedly wrote how he “wanted to eliminate his parents and make it look like they went missing while out for a walk.”

WBAY-TV reports Metzig’s bail is set at $1 million cash. He faces life in prison if convicted.