MADISON (WKOW) – The Dane County Sheriff's Office has arrested three more people in connection with the homicide case of a man found in Lake Mendota earlier this month.
Detectives booked 35-year-old Saul Garcia-Rosario, 37-year-old Elmer Ramirez-Milian, and 28-year-old Erlin Vargas into the Dane County Jail last Friday.
All three men are being charged with Aiding a Felon and Party to a Crime of Hiding a Corpse after detectives found that they were all at the garage on Acker Road in the town of Burke the night 23-year-old Jacob Payne was killed. Detectives say the men helped Rudy Ramirez-Milian and Juan Aguilar-Vargas dispose of Payne's body.
MADISON (WKOW) -- The Dane County Sheriff's Office says two men are in custody for the murder of Jacob Payne, who was found dead in Lake Mendota on Saturday.
Sheriff's officials also say Payne was working as a drug informant for the state justice department's division of criminal investigation, and was relaying information to agents about one of the men suspected of killing him.
The two men are Rudy Alberto Ramirez-Millan, 27, of Waunakee and Juan Aguilar-Vargas, 27, of Madison. Both are being held in the Dane County Jail on charges of 1st Degree Intentional Homicide and Hiding a Corpse.
Authorities say the two men stabbed Payne to death, then used Ramirez-Millan's gray Ford F-150 pick-up truck to take the body to Lake Mendota, where they weighted it down with a chain and steel I-beam, and left it in the lake where it was discovered on Saturday.
The sheriff's office says Ramirez-Millan became a person of interest early in the investigation. Chief Deputy Jeff Hook says Payne had provided information to state officials on Ramirez-Millan over alleged drug dealing.
He was booked into the jail on Sunday by state Department of Justice agents on unrelated drug charges. At the time, his hands were badly cut and bandaged, injuries authorities feel are consistent with knife wounds.
Juan Aguilar-Vargas was arrested Tuesday at his home in Madison. Court records show Aguilar-Vargas was in a first offender's jail diversion program after being found responsible for cocaine possession last year.
Detectives learned that even though Ramirez-Millan was allowing Jacob Payne to stay in his black BMW at the auto repair garage he rents at 4260 Acker Road, at times the two had a tumultuous relationship. They also learned from DCI agents working with the victim that Payne's last known contact with anyone was just after midnight on the morning of Tuesday, April 7.
Authorities say Ramirez-Millan and Payne got into a fight at the Acker Road garage that night. Aguilar-Vargas, a friend of Ramirez-Millan's, also got involved and the two men stabbed Payne multiple times. After putting the body in the lake, detectives say the two suspects returned to the Acker Rd. location where they cleaned up and disposed of evidence, including the two knives used in the homicide, along with Payne's cell phone and wallet.
Hook says at this time, it appears the suspects were unaware of Payne acting as an informant, and providing information on Ramitrez-Millan to authorities. But Hook says the investigation continues.
State department of justice spokesperson Anne Schwartz declines comment to 27 News on Payne's status as a drug informant, how he was recruited, and for how long he's served in that capacity.
The Dane County Sheriff's Office continues to ask the public to share any information they may have about this crime by calling the Dane County tip line at 608-284-6900. Primarily, detectives are looking for any sightings of the gray Ford F-150 near Lake Mendota on Monday night or Tuesday morning, and the recovery of Payne's athletic shoes, which may be in or near the lake.