Wife of Man Killed in Okauchee Was Homicide Victim

The wife of a Waukesha man in Okauchee this weekend was a homicide victim in 2007.

Dodge County Sheriff Todd Nehls confirmed the man who was shot, James P. Babe, has the same birth date as James Babe, who was married to Laura Babe at the time of her death. Laura Babe was beaten to death on Sept. 6, 2007, at the age of 39 at her Horicon apartment.

“The apartment was then set on fire with extensive damage to the apartment complex,” states a Dodge County Sheriff’s Department cold case flier. “Laura had a past history of prescription drug abuse offenses.”

A news article from the time posted on Madison.com states that Laura Babe was not living with James Babe at the time of her death.

Nehls said Tuesday the sheriff’s department had interviewed Babe about Laura Babe’s death and that they conducted a search warrant of his property. They were hoping to get more information from Babe about Laura Babe.

“We never classified him as a suspect,” Nehls said.

Waukesha Patch was tipped off about the connection from a Patch reader who left comments on the original story about Babe's death this weekend.

Babe was shot during an Okauchee home invasion when he told a home owner that he had a gun early Saturday morning. The home owner was armed and killed the man, according to a report from WTMJ4.

FOX6 is reporting the district attorney’s office will review Babe’s death. Babe’s family members are disputing that Babe would have threatened anyone with a gun.

Waukesha County District Attorney Brad Schimel told a reporter with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that Babe was not armed when he was shot. The prosecutor, however, still needs to investigate whether or not the shooting was justified.