12/24/2025

EAGLE RIVER - A 42-year-old Lac du Flambeau man remains in the Vilas County Jail on a $300,000 cash bond. Brett La Barge is charged with attempted first-degree intentional homicide.  Investigators received multiple 911 calls Dec. 13 just before 1 p.m. reporting a hammer attack.  According to court documents, La Barge called 911 and said he had killed a police officer with a hammer. A second call came from a woman saying she received a call from a grandchild saying their mother had been killed.  When officers arrived, La Barge was standing in the doorway of the property. He was detained. Officers entered the home and found the woman lying on a bed in a pool of blood. A child at the home was not harmed.  During an interview with police, La Barge said he believed the woman had evil spirits and that voices told him to kill her and the child.  The woman remains on life support in serious condition from the attack. A judge has given La Barge until this Monday to obtain an attorney.