GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — Bail is set at $1 million for Owen Backus, the suspect in a Green Bay homicide.
In a Monday morning news conference, police said the 45-year old is believed to be the only suspect involved and the public is not in danger.
Backus appeared in Brown County Court late Monday afternoon. The Brown County District Attorney filing a written probable cause statement, a document that lays out a reasonable basis a crime was committed and Backus committed the crime.
The district attorney asking the document be sealed as the investigation into the homicide is ongoing.
When asking for a high bail amount, District Attorney David Lasee didn’t get into specifics of the crime, but he did say, “In terms of what happened, the suspect made admissions that his actions ultimately contributed or caused the death of the crime victim in this case. He does make statements that are indicated in the probable cause section that are consistent with a self defense allegation or he indicates that those actions were taken in that capacity.”
Officers were called to the 1700 block of Western Avenue just after 6:30 p.m. Saturday night for a report of a disturbance involving two people.
A 30-year-old man was found dead inside the home.
Police say Backus was brought to the Green Bay Police Department to be questioned, following the initial call to the Western Avenue home. It was during that questioning, according to Green Bay Police, they arrested Backus.
Police would not confirm the manner of death, saying they would release those details once the autopsy was complete.
The victim’s name would not be released until after the autopsy, police said.
The area of Western Avenue has seen a string of incidents lately. Last month, a 30-year-old man was shot and killed in a parking lot of an apartment complex and an April shooting that resulted in one death.
“I don’t want to speak on the other cases but in general, the cases that we have of this magnitude within the city of Green Bay, are normally isolated incidents, versus the larger cities like Chicago, New York, things like that, so in general, like you said, we’ve had a rash of some incidents in this area recently, as far as we can tell, none of them are connected to each other, so it’s not a string of robberies or burglaries or violent crime in that area, these isolated incidents involving these people just happen to happen in that area, it’s not related to the area itself, if that makes sense,” Captain Jeff Brester said.
Crime scene tape is expected to remain up at the home until the autopsy is completed.
