A dispatch log from Sauk County shows how two shootings became one criminal case.
BARABOO, Wis. — A Sauk County homicide case against 80-year-old George Paul began with witness calls from a nature preserve and ended about an hour later when police stopped a Kia Carnival minivan leaving a police department parking lot.
The filings and official statements place the May 8 events in a tight timeline that prosecutors now say links the death of Susan Paul, 80, to gunfire at the Sauk Prairie Police Department. Paul, of Prairie du Sac, is charged with first-degree intentional homicide and six other counts. He remains jailed on a $1 million cash bond while a court-ordered competency evaluation is pending.
The first timestamp in the public account is 2:08 p.m. That is when the Sauk County Dispatch Center received a report of a shooting at Pewitt’s Nest Nature Preserve on County Road W in the Township of Baraboo. The first reports did not begin with a body or a suspect already in custody. They came from multiple callers who told dispatchers they had seen a man pulling a woman from a vehicle before shooting her several times. The callers also said the man fled in a vehicle toward the City of Baraboo. Four minutes later, at 2:12 p.m., deputies reached the preserve and found Susan Paul dead in the parking lot from multiple close-range gunshot wounds, according to the sheriff’s office.
The next stage of the response was built from witness descriptions. Deputies gathered a general account of the man and his vehicle and aired that information to other responding units. At that moment, the case was a homicide investigation with a moving suspect and an unknown next destination. The sheriff’s office later said George Paul and Susan Paul were both from Prairie du Sac, a village in Sauk County. Their ages, both 80, were released in an update after relatives were notified. The first public statement did not include the names, and officials said the case remained active. Captain Matt Burch said the sheriff’s office was assisted by Baraboo police, Sauk Prairie police, the Wisconsin State Patrol and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.
The second location entered the case at 3:10 p.m., when authorities say a man drove into the Sauk Prairie Police Department parking lot in a Kia Carnival minivan. He got out of the van and fired several shots into the front door and vestibule. The police department building was hit several times, but no staff members were injured. The shooting at the police station changed the case from a homicide scene at a preserve into a broader public safety response. It also gave officers a fresh sighting of a suspect vehicle. Around 3:11 p.m., Sauk Prairie police officers saw the minivan leaving the department, conducted a traffic stop and arrested the driver without incident, according to the sheriff’s office.
Investigators later said evidence from the preserve, the police station and the minivan showed the same person and vehicle were involved in both shootings. Reported complaint details said officers found a pistol, a purse believed to be Susan Paul’s and blood evidence inside the vehicle. Prosecutors then filed seven counts. The homicide charge includes domestic abuse and dangerous weapon modifiers. The other charges include intentionally pointing a firearm at another person, two counts of first-degree recklessly endangering safety, reckless use of a firearm, criminal damage to property and discharging a firearm within 100 yards of a building. The police department gunfire is central to the non-homicide counts because the shots struck a public building while people were inside or nearby.
Statements attributed to George Paul during questioning have become a major part of the public record, though they have not replaced the legal questions before the court. Investigators said Paul claimed Susan Paul was a “creature” and had posed as his wife for 55 years. He allegedly described a belief that such creatures were increasing in number and would eventually take over the world. Reported complaint details also said he told detectives he was on an “Alzheimer’s journey” and had limited judgment or control after waking up. Police staff told investigators they knew Paul from earlier contacts and believed he had dementia and was supposed to receive services. The court has ordered a competency evaluation, but that order does not decide guilt or innocence.
The bond hearing gave the first clear view of how the parties saw risk in the case. Prosecutors recommended a $10 million cash bond, a figure that reflected the homicide charge, the alleged use of a gun and the later shooting at a police building. Paul’s attorney asked for a $500,000 cash bond. The judge set cash bond at $1 million. That amount keeps Paul in custody unless posted and keeps the criminal case under court supervision while the competency issue is addressed. Public reports did not show a completed plea. The status conference scheduled for July 14 is the next listed court date and may address the competency review, charging posture and future hearing dates.
The nature preserve setting added another public impact. Pewitt’s Nest is a known outdoor area near Baraboo, northwest of Madison, where visitors come for scenery rather than law enforcement activity. Witnesses who called the shooting in helped shape the early response by giving deputies the first account of what happened and where the suspect went. At the police department, staff escaped injury even though the front entrance and vestibule were struck by gunfire. The sheriff’s office said soon after the arrest that there was no ongoing threat to the community. That statement followed the traffic stop, the recovery of evidence and the conclusion that the same suspect had been connected to both scenes.
Several facts remain unknown in the public record. Authorities have not described what brought George and Susan Paul to the preserve that afternoon. They have not released a detailed account of any conversation before the shooting. They also have not publicly said whether the gun used at the preserve was the same gun used at the police department, though investigators said evidence connected the scenes. The competency evaluation may bring more court filings, and prosecutors may later provide additional facts through motions, hearing testimony or amended records.
For now, the case rests on witness calls, a fast police broadcast, two crime scenes and an arrest one minute after the police station report. George Paul remains in the Sauk County Jail. The next scheduled court step is the July 14 status conference.
Author note: Last updated June 16, 2026.