Double homicide rattles community

Accused suspect Kivi, 25, held on $2 million bond

By Jason Arndt
Editor

Nathan Kivi, 25, accused in the double homicide of two brothers outside the Beach Bar in the Village of Twin Lakes, received a $2 million cash bond at his initial appearance Tuesday in Kenosha County Intake Court.

Kivi, of Trevor, faces two counts of first-degree intentional homicide, two felony bail jumping charges and unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon, online court records show.

The Nov. 24 double homicide of village residents Richard and Kenneth Samuel III, meanwhile, rattled a community that has not had a violent murder in decades.

“It is a small community and we are obviously shocked that this happened,” Twin Lakes Police Chief Adam Grosz said at a Nov. 24 news conference.

Nathan Kivi

Among those who were shocked were Beach Bar patrons, who said they were too distraught to speak about the incident, but noted the brothers always put others needs first before their own.

While the small community recovers from the double homicide, the Kenosha County District Attorney’s Office filed formal charges on Nov. 28, according to online court records.

Kivi has a lengthy criminal record, which dates back to 2012, when he was convicted on three counts of felony burglary Kenosha County.

With his conviction, Kivi reportedly served a little more than a year in prison, court records show.

Kivi’s bail jumping charge relates to an open case in Walworth County, where he allegedly strangled and suffocated the 21-year-old mother of his child last December, a criminal complaint states.

After Kivi allegedly pushed her onto a bed, he got on top of her, and used his forearm to choke her, according to the criminal complaint.

Since June 21, he was out on a $10,000 signature bond in the Walworth County case, according to online court records.

Argument leads to shooting
The double homicide happened at around 2 a.m. Friday, when village police received reports of shots fired, Grosz said at the news conference held later that day.

When officers arrived to the tavern at 402 S. Lake Ave. they found Richard Samuel, 28, dead in the parking lot and Kenneth Samuel III clinging to life with multiple gunshot wounds.

A neighbor who lives next door said he heard six consecutive shots while he watched television with his son.

Kenneth Samuel, 31, was transported to Aurora Memorial Hospital of Burlington, where he was pronounced dead.

The suspect fled the scene before officers arrived. Witnesses said an argument led to the shooting.

In response, investigators with the Kenosha County Sheriff’s Department and Twin Lakes Police Department issued an alert to authorities statewide, noting Kivi could be driving a 2012 Chevy Silverado pickup truck.

Monroe County Sheriff’s deputies and the Wisconsin State Patrol spotted the truck heading northbound on Interstate 94 near Tomah, Grosz said.

“Deputies from the Monroe County Sheriff’s Department and Wisconsin State Patrol were able to locate the suspect and take him into custody without incident,” said Grosz, who believes Kivi was headed to the Hayward area, where he has family.

Authorities tracked him through his cell phone, Grosz said.

 

For the full story, see the Dec. 1 print edition of the Westosha Report and Twin Lakes Report.


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