A hometown newspaper with a local office, local owners & lots of local news
A hometown newspaper with a local office, local owners & lots of local news
On Saturday afternoon, a BCA mobile crime unit was parked outside Thomas Micklewright's home and Fond du Lac police officers stood by. James Couture died after being shot at the home early Saturday morning.
Cloquet and Fond du Lac resident James Arthur Couture died after being shot early Saturday morning in what appeared to be a shooting by an acquaintance.
According to a press release by the St. Louis County Sheriff's Office, law enforcement were called to an address on Brevator Road at approximately 5 a.m. Saturday.
Deputies and Fond du Lac police officers responded and found Couture, age 65, deceased at the scene, by a gunshot wound.
Three other adults were present at the scene and all were acquaintances of one another.
The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension crime scene team was called to assist investigators with the scene.
Thomas Allen Micklewright, 44, was subsequently booked into the St. Louis County Jail on a charge of second-degree unintentional murder. The incident occurred at Micklewright's residence.
On Saturday afternoon, a giant BCA mobile crime unit was parked outside Micklewright's home, and three Fond du Lac police cars were stationed along the road. The home is just over the border between Carlton and St. Louis County, about four miles from Big Lake Road in the Brookston area.
The St. Louis County Attorney's Office normally would have charged Micklewright by sometime Wednesday, but requested a one-day extension. The office said Wednesday that Micklewright would be charged sometime Thursday, after this issue the Pine Knot News went to press.
More details should be available from the criminal complaint after Micklewright is charged.
When word of Couture's death came out on Facebook, condolences and fond memories of the man also known as "Weasel" poured in. Services for Couture were scheduled for Thursday morning, Nov. 14, with visitation at 10 a.m. and the funeral at 11 a.m. at Nelson Funeral Care in Cloquet. According to his obituary at nelsonfuneralcare.net, Couture was a member of the Fond du Lac Reservation and worked numerous jobs with them. He was an avid hunter, fisherman, outdoorsman and enjoyed spending time with his family, especially his grandchildren.
He is survived by his wife, Patricia; two sons, Christopher Houle and Jesse Seabury; four daughters, Jennifer Seabury, Katherine Couture, Leanne (Dale) Reynolds, and Tammy (Marc) Erickson; one brother, David Couture; two sisters, Marge Clark and Ella Netland; and numerous grandchildren, great-grandchildren, nieces, and nephews.
