Alert issued for Iron County murder suspect

By RALPH ANSAMI

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Hurley - A statewide search continues for one of five men charged with conspiring to kill a Lac du Flambeau tribal member in southern Iron County.

A Crime Alert notice from the Wisconsin Department of Justice notes James Lussier, 19, of Woodruff, is wanted in connection with the Dec. 22 death of Wayne Valliere Jr.

Valliere's body wasn't found until New Year's Day. He had been shot eight times.

Lussier is 6 feet 2 inches tall, weighs 263 pounds, has brown eyes and black hair, according to the Wisconsin DOJ. He has several tattoos, one with his name on his arm and others with reference to the Native Soldiers gang.

The other four suspects arrested in connection with the homicide - Richard Allen, 27; Evan Oungst, 27; Joseph Lussier, 26, and Curtis Wolfe, 26 - are in custody. They are scheduled for March 5 initial appearances in Iron County Court on party to a crime of murder and hiding a corpse charges.

Lussier is also wanted in Vilas and Marathon Counties on other charges.

Court records show Lussier was scheduled to be sentenced in Vilas County Court for felony possession of narcotic drugs on Monday. He also faces other lesser charges in two other Vilas County cases.

The criminal complaint alleges the five men drove Valliere to a spot on Swamp Lake Road, north of Mercer, during the early morning hours of Dec. 22, first beating him and then shooting him. The suspects believed Valliere was a confidential informant, according to the criminal complaint.

Valliere was reported missing to Lac du Flambeau police on Christmas Day. He subsequently became the subject of a missing persons investigation led by the Wisconsin DOJ's Department of Criminal Investigation, along with numerous other law enforcement agencies.

Assistant Attorney General Richard Dufour, from the DOJ, is the lead special prosecutor in the case.