Every Step You Take...

Jefferson is a small city of 7,975 people in Jefferson County, south-eastern Wisconsin, sitting roughly fifty minutes from both Milwaukee and Madison. James describes it as a quiet, woodsy, mostly white, middle-class place where the biggest annual events are the county fair and a German heritage festival. Before Easter 1994 it had not had a homicide in twenty years. Ruben Borchardt was a custom cabinet maker, the kind of skilled tradesman who could command good money for his work. By February 1979 he was married to Susan and they had two small children, Brooke, three, and Chuck, one. One day, while Ruben was at home with the children, Susan was killed in a car accident right outside the house. Ruben was in his early twenties. A few years later he took a job as a foreman at Schweiger Industries, a furniture manufacturer in Jefferson. details of the account remain covered until revealed the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it She had drifted around the country before settling in Jefferson. She and Ruben married eight months after Susan's death, and their daughter Regan was born eight months after the wedding. this part of the story is covered for now details of the account remain covered until revealed the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it She later became a teacher's aide at Jefferson High School and opened Mrs. B's sports screen store in downtown Jefferson. The marriage was never happy, and Brooke later said she had wished her parents would divorce as early as the third grade. this part of the story is covered for now He had met Judy France, a thirty-year-old homemaker, while installing cabinets in her house, and the relationship was conducted openly around Jefferson. details of the account remain covered until revealed In January 1994 Ruben filed for divorce and moved into the basement of the farmhouse, lining empty mayonnaise jars along the cellar hallway as a crude alarm. the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it this part of the story is covered for now On 2 April she and Ruben fought over Susan's sewing machine as she loaded her car. She jumped on his back, hit him and wrestled the keys from him, then drove off with Regan, the dog and the machine. She went to Judy France's house and pounded on the door, then reported to the sheriff's office that Ruben had assaulted her, saying she was leaving for Tomahawk in northern Wisconsin to visit Susan's parents. Just after three in the morning on 3 April 1994, Easter Sunday, Chuck, then seventeen, woke in his first-floor bedroom to a noise he thought sounded like a cow mooing. He smelled burnt gunpowder and went down to the basement, where he found his father slumped across a chair, shot twice in the torso with a shotgun and still conscious. Chuck called 911 and held his hand. Ruben said, 'I can't believe she would do this to me', and passed out. He died at the hospital. details of the account remain covered until revealed She argued with Ruben's sister Barbara about the obituary's mention of Susan and threatened to cancel the funeral and bury him in a pauper's grave unless the family treated her as the grieving wife. Her lawyer also told Barbara that Judy France was to be kept away. the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it this part of the story is covered for now She offered $20,000 from the insurance, her wedding and engagement rings and two cars. She also drew him a map of the house on the back of a study hall excuse slip. details of the account remain covered until revealed the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it this part of the story is covered for now details of the account remain covered until revealed the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it this part of the story is covered for now details of the account remain covered until revealed the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it this part of the story is covered for now details of the account remain covered until revealed the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it this part of the story is covered for now details of the account remain covered until revealed The prosecution used Ruben's dying words as an excited utterance, arguing that he knew he was dying. the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it this part of the story is covered for now details of the account remain covered until revealed the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it this part of the story is covered for now Regan, fifteen, stayed loyal to her mother and was allowed to remain with the Shilers rather than the Kulos named as her guardians in Ruben's will. details of the account remain covered until revealed the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it this part of the story is covered for now details of the account remain covered until revealed the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it