WISCONSIN

Racine County intruder gets 40 years in prison

Jesse Garza
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

A Racine County man was sentenced to 40 years in prison Friday for slashing the throat of a man after breaking into a Town of Dover home, according to a criminal complaint and state court records.

Ronald E. Kaehne, 30, of Kansasville was also ordered to serve 25 years on extended supervision for the Jan. 17, 2015, break-in during which he fled after a woman in the home fired a gun at him, according to the complaint and the records.

According to the complaint, Kaehne entered the home through a window, which he propped open with canisters, and stood in the bedroom of a man and woman for about 40 minutes before the man woke up.

A struggle between Kaehne and the man ensued, during which the woman woke up and Kaehne sliced the man's throat. The woman yelled that she had a gun before firing a shot at Kaehne, who fled through a window.

Footprints in the snow led officers to Kaehne's home, where they took him into custody and discovered a journal that he kept.

"I'll kill my targets tonight," reads one entry made the day before the break-in.

"I'm thinking of trailing the blood out to the driveway to implicate a car. I failed; both are alive," read a second entry made after the incident and before Kaehne's arrest, according to the complaint.