A Wisconsin man accused of fatally shooting six people – and then taking a selfie with some of their bodies in the background – has been charged with six counts of murder stemming from an armed robbery has gone bad.
Cell phone photos of Travis Birkley, 34, appear to show him wearing a special pair of eyeglasses in January that his fourth victim is believed to be Donta Williams, for a sick portrait fire.
All of the victims died from a gunshot wound to the head.
“The defendant took a photo of himself in what appeared to be a basement, where three bodies were later found,” according to a police complaint filed by various news outlets. In the complaint, officers say he wore Williams’ glasses after he allegedly shot him in the upstairs unit.
The bodies of six people were found in a Milwaukee multi-family home owned by victims Donta and Michelle Williams, a day after a woman – who may also have been a victim – called 911 and said she had died. was shot in the head, according to police reports. Officers tracking down the report did not find the address reported in the initial 911 call.
In response to a welfare check, officers found Williams’ body on the first floor after it was reported that they had not answered their phones. After calling for assistance, police found the bodies of Charles Hardy, Caleb Jordan and Jovini Liddel in the basement apartment. Police later found another victim, Donald Smith, underneath a pile of clothes in a second-floor bedroom.
According to a police report cited in several publications, Birkley’s cousin admitted that the two men were planning to rob Donta Williams after arranging a meeting to buy drugs. After that, Williams’ wife apparently surprised the men, prompting them to first shoot her, and then him. The noise then seemed to have attracted the attention of others in the building, whom the men then “had to shoot” because they were also likely armed or capable is a witness. Smith, reportedly, was shot while approaching them with a shotgun.
Police found 10 cell phones at the crime scene. Several other phones had messages that appeared to be related to potential drug deals, including a message that read “You still like it if so, buy a dull cigarette and a cigarette,” alluding to the methods used. Traditional means of selling cannabis. Police say they have used cell tower data to identify Birkley as a potential suspect, as one of his cell phones was allegedly caught on several cell towers at the same time as it stopped working on both. six victim devices.
A witness interviewed during the investigation also said that on the day after the murder, Birkley was seen with a synthetic marijuana called K2 that Donta Williams allegedly regularly sold, according to the police complaint. close.
Police also found 10 shell casings from two different weapons in the property, leading them to believe there may have been a second shooting. No one else has yet been arrested.
