A man is accused of killing three people — including his ex-girlfriend and her father — and wounding two others in a domestic violence shooting in a small town in southeastern South Dakota.
The victims include a 5-year-old girl and at least three of the victims are related.
Francis Lange is charged with three counts of first-degree murder, two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, and one count of committing a felony with a firearm, according to court records.
The 41-year-old from Scotland is being held on a $2 million cash-only bond. He has an initial court appearance at 1:30 p.m. today.
What follows is from an affidavit:
Lange is accused of killing his ex-girlfriend Angela Monclova at her house. He's also accused of killing Librado Monclova and Diane Akins, and injuring Vicki Monclova and a 5-year-old girl.
Librado and Vicki are Angela's parents. It's unclear if Diane and the girl are related to the family.
The shooting was reported just before 6 p.m. on Tuesday. Bon Homme County Sheriff's deputies responded to the scene and Highway Patrol and the state Division of Criminal Investigation arrived later.
Police learned Vicki walked to her son's house after the shooting and another son, Jacob, went to Angela's house. He found the victims, including the 5-year-old girl who was crying in a bedroom. Jacob said the girl mentioned someone named "Frankie."
Angela and Librado died at the scene while Diane died at the Scotland Hospital. Vicki and the child were transported by helicopter to a Sioux Falls hospital for "serious life-threatening injures that require extensive medical treatment."
A deputy believed "Frankie" to be Francis Neuman since he responded to a domestic violence-related call between him and Angela several months ago. The deputy separated the couple and drove Francis to his father's house.
No one was charged in that incident and Francis has no violent criminal history, court records show.
Law enforcement arrested Francis at his father's house without incident.
Police found a handgun magazine and fired shell casing/cartridges inside Angela's home and a Taurus semi-automatic handgun between her house and Francis' father's house. A box for a Taurus handgun was found under Francis' bed and the serial number matched the number on the handgun.
Francis told police he lived with his father but formerly lived with Angela, who he used to date. He declined to discuss anything else with police.
The Bon Homme Sheriff's Office and Highway Patrol declined to comment. The spokesman for DCI, which is leading the investigation, did not immediately return a call.
