Probable Cause/ Bond Hearing

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Not yet ready to charge the two men, Kenosha Deputy District Attorney Carli McNeill asked Circuit Court Commissioner Loren Keating Friday to find probable cause and set bond for a murder she said occurred in Twin Lakes. Keating did just that. He set temporary bonds at $1,000,000 each, after McNeill told a chilling tale of murder and concealment.

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The Crime Details

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McNeil told the court Friday afternoon that on November 6, 2021 police were led to a body buried in a wooded area and covered with a sheet of plywood. The body was exhumed and identified as 60-year-old Kenneth Thoma of Twin Lakes. Thoma was reported missing on October 20, 2021 by his family. An autopsy was performed on Thoma and it was discovered that he was shot in the head. Miracle lived in the same apartment complex as Thoma. The police received information that Miacle was involved in the murder. Miracle denied involvement in the homicide in a police interview. He did, however place himself as the last known person to be with Thoma outside of the apartment complex on the last night that he was seen alive.

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Miracle’s grandmother gave him money on his 18th birthday to buy a “ghost gun” online. McNeill described it as a gun that has no serial numbers. This purchase was made late August, 2021. Twin Lakes Police interviewed Miracle’s brother, and he said that he heard about Miracle’s involvement in the homicide. Miracle’s friend and co-defendant, Thomas Wilton, told Miracle’s brother that Wilton got rid of the gun used to kill Thoma. Yesterday, Thursday December 16, 2021 a friend of both defendant approached police and said that Wilton told him that Miracle shot Thoma in the head and they buried the man in the woods. Wilton was there to help Miracle if anything “went south.” Wilton was with Miracle during the homicide and Miracle was the trigger-man. Some of these details were corroborated by messages on Snapchat and texts. Wilton spoke with police and told them he wasn’t with Miracle during the shooting, but he admitted to helping Miracle before and after the homicide. He told police they went to the store together and bought a shovel to bury the victim.

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“I think there is evidence of premeditation and concealment. The state intends to charge the defendant (Miracle) with 1st degree homicide and hiding a corpse….The state is recommending a $1,000,00 cash bond,” said McNeill.

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McNeill later said she will be charging Wilton with 1st degree murder as party-to-a-crime and hiding a corpse.

The victim’s wife was present in court today and asked the commissioner to set the bond as “high as possible” so that they are in jail for the remainder of this case.

Both defendants were eerily staring at Deputy DA McNeill and repeatedly turned around, in an apparent attempt to look at the victim’s family, who was in court. Two deputies had to sternly warn both men several times to “look forward!”

“What we’re looking at here is nothing short of extremely callous behavior with respect to in and of itself first, by discharging a firearm into the head of another human being, and then what appears to be an alleged callous disposal of a human being, of a body,” said Commissioner Keating, a former police officer. “You would face decades if not life in prison (if convicted)”

Both men have no criminal history.

Both men’s attorneys pointed to the largely circumstantial nature of the case. “I didn’t hear that a gun was found,” said assistant public defender Seth Johnson. “I’m at a disadvantage here, not having a criminal complaint to read,” said assistant public denfender Christopher Bub on behalf of Wilton.

The Twin Lakes Police Department released the below statement early this evening. Both men are expected to be charged this coming week.