Dunn County Sheriff's Investigators to Receive the Michael Vendola Death Investigator of the Year Award from Wisconsin Association of Homicide Investigators (WAHI)

Dunn County Sheriff’s Office Investigator Dan Westlund and Sergeant Jason Stalker have been selected to receive the Michael Vendola Death Investigator of the Year Award through the Wisconsin Association of Homicide Investigators (WAHI) and will be presented the award at the organizations April Conference. The Michael Vendola Death Investigator of the Year Award is awarded to the member that goes above and beyond normal duty in a death investigation or contributes greatly beyond the normal scope to the area of death investigations.

Investigator Westlund and Sergeant Stalker were selected for this prestigious award based on their tireless efforts which were instrumental in leading to the closure of the 50-year-old homicide case of Mary Shlais and the successful conviction of her killer, Jon Miller, who pled to First-Degree Murder and was sentenced to life in prison. Investigator Westlund and Sergeant Stalker, along with Cairenn Binder of Ramapo College, have presented the details of their investigation nationwide and have been featured in "A Confession in Cold Blood" is an episode of the true-crime documentary series Bloodline Detectives (S6 E9) which highlights how investigative genetic genealogy and modern forensics are used to solve cold cases.

https://therokuchannel.roku.com/watch/d4e6c7820f74abce5316b89b1f6eae1a

Dunn County Sheriff signs ICE agreement for the Warrant Service Officer Program

Based on legal advice from the attorney who represents Dunn County’s liability insurance carrier, Wisconsin County Mutual, Sheriff Kevin Bygd signed a Memorandum of Agreement to allow selected staff members to be trained as Warrant Service Officers.

Under this program, Dunn County Sheriff’s Deputies are authorized only to serve federal detainers on individuals who are already in custody at the Dunn County Jail on local criminal charges. This agreement does not grant deputies authority to enforce federal immigration laws or to participate in immigration enforcement activities such as arresting individuals based solely on suspected immigration status.

The purpose of the agreement is to provide limited liability protection when holding an individual in our custody for up to 48 hours on a federal detainer after local charges have been resolved. In instances where we have encountered individuals with federal detainers, those individuals typically had significant criminal histories, and the detainers were associated with serious offenses.

Dunn County Deputies encounter non-citizens on a regular basis and, when appropriate, may arrest or cite individuals for violations of state or local law — just as they would with any other person. We do not contact federal authorities for every interaction involving a non-citizen, nor do we have authority to independently enforce federal immigration laws.

On average, the Dunn County Jail encounters approximately one individual per year who has a federal detainer, despite regularly housing non-citizens. Last year, we encountered two individuals with federal detainers. One individual was sentenced to prison on local felony charges, and the detainer followed him to state prison. In the other case, the individual was arrested on local charges, and the federal detainer was withdrawn before those charges were resolved and he was released from jail once the local charges were resolved.

I hope this clarifies any misinformation that may be circulating.

Sheriff Kevin Bygd

News Release - Ice Agreement 03-02-26.pdf

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Dunn County Sheriff Investigators Present About the Role of Genetic Genealogy at State Conference | 50-Year Cold Case Homicide

Dunn County was highlighted this week at the Wisconsin Sheriffs and Deputy Sheriff’s Association (WSDSA) Annual Training Conference as investigators presented “The Long Road to Justice”, a training session about the growing role of genetic genealogy in solving cold cases, as well as the power of collaboration between law enforcement and academic institutions in pursuit of justice.

The course was presented by Investigations Unit Sergeant Jason Stalker, Investigator Dan Westlund, and Cairenn Binder, Assistant Director of the Ramapo

College Investigative Genetic Genealogy Center and Founding Partner, Coast to Coast Genetic Genealogy Service

On November 5, 2024, 84-year-old-Jon K. Miller was arrested in Minnesota by Dunn County Sheriff’s Investigators and charged with murder in relation to the 1974 homicide of 26-year-old Mary Schlais after a 50-year investigation that spanned across several states, hundreds of interviews, and countless hours of investigation and collaboration with other agencies.

Pictured at WSDSA (L to R) Sgt. Jason Stalker, Investigator Westlund, Cairenn Binder, and Dunn County Sheriff Kevin Bygd.