that fatal fight broke out
By AARON MARTIN
Staff Reporter
JUNEAU — A Harley Davidson that went missing from the parking lot of Kinda Country Tavern April 27 sparked a scuffle that caused a fatal spinal injury to 46-year-old Michael Zuhlke of Beaver Dam.
Although no criminal charges were filed in Zuhlke's death, a jury ruled Wednesday that a husband and wife from Beaver Dam are guilty of taking the motorcycle without the owner's consent, or joy riding.
Jeffrey A. Koch, 35, and Ingrid L. Martinez Koch, 38, were both found guilty of taking and abandoning a vehicle without the owner's consent Wednesday after a three-day trial. The Kochs will face up to nine months in jail and a $10,000 fine when they return to Dodge County Circuit Court for sentencing March 30.
According to the criminal complaint, when Michael Zuhlke and his brother Joseph Zuhlke left Kinda Country, W7523 Highway C, town of Trenton, at bar time on April 24, they discovered Joseph's motorcycle missing from the parking lot. The brother's confronted bar manager Brian Schultz about the missing bike, and soon Michael Zuhlke and Schultz were engaged in a struggle in the parking lot. Joseph tackled both Schultz and his brother, and when all three fell to the ground, Michael Zuhlke suffered the fatal spinal injury.
Gregory Wood, who was working as a bouncer at the time, stated in the complaint that he saw the Kochs put a motorcycle in the garage around 1:30 a.m.
The Kochs both told investigators they had been "extremely intoxicated," and had vague recollections of the night's events.
Dodge County District Attorney Bill Bedker said, "The state's case against the Kochs rested primarily upon the eye-witness testimony of a sober bouncer who clearly testified that they were the ones who took Joseph Zuhlke's motorcycle and operated it into the garage."
Scott Rasmussen, the Kochs attorney, said he presented evidence that someone else had moved the motorcycle into the garage.
"We thought that the verdict would be different based on the evidence," he said. "There were witnesses on both sides who were credible. I think it was a hard decision for the jury to make . . . to decide which witnesses to believe, and they believed the witness from the state."
Bedker said, "The defense tried to suggest that this bouncer somehow colluded with the bar manager to wrongfully pin this on the Kochs, but there really was no credible evidence to support this theory in my opinion."
Rasmussen said his clients maintain their innocence and the case hasn't been covered fairly in the press.
"I haven't liked the media coverage of this because they associate the death of Michael Zuhlke with the taking of the motorcycle, and it actually doesn't have anything to do with it because Michael Zuhlke was extremely intoxicated and he started a fight at the bar. The fight he started led to his death. Just because somebody took his brother's motorcycle doesn't give him the right to start a fight."
Although the Kochs maintain their innocence in the case, others have speculated as to what their motive to hide the motorcycle could have been.
"The state is not required to prove motive," Bedker said. "I really can't say for sure though what the motivation was. I do know though that the Kochs' actions set in motion a very tragic set of events."
amartin@capitalnewspapers.com
Subject: over a joy ride ....so said but .... 
Sat Feb 28, 2009 7:36 am
