"Guilty x2!"

This week, one local business owner is sleeping easier knowing justice has been served after a lengthy legal battle. On October 2, Kirk Drury was found guilty for the robbery of the Denmark Saloon in 2021, joining his accomplice in the crime--Joseph Lapere--who was found guilty earlier this year. Last week, we spoke with Denmark Saloon owner--Karl Nohr--to learn more and to get his perspective on how justice was ultimately served.

In the early morning hours of Saturday, November 7, 2021, two masked men confronted the Denmark Saloon's bartender--Jamie--as she was closing up for the evening. Aiming a handgun at her, the two men zip-tied the bartender to a pole inside before making off with both the bar's and her personal money. The bartender was able to free herself from the zip-ties by using a cigarette lighter and fled for cover in the storeroom before quickly calling the police.

Karl Nohr, who has owned the Denmark Saloon for 18 years, was called to the scene by the police who let him into his burglarized bar. Inside, Karl's attention was drawn to an open bottle of booze left by the thieves in the middle of the bar. This triggered a memory. Nohr recalled an incident roughly a decade prior when a number of TVs had been stolen from the tavern. These robbers too had left an open bottle of booze in the middle of the bar after their crime. Although no charges were able to be filed in that case, Nohr had good reason to suspect one Joseph Lapere was the perpetrator and tipped investigators in his direction.

Authorities soon questioned Joseph Lapere as well as Kirk Drury who had been seen with him at the saloon earlier that day during business hours. While the police did talk to a number of other suspects, Nohr says the case "zeroed in on them pretty quick". On February 8, 2022, Lapere and Drury were both charged with counts of armed robbery and false imprisonment with the court setting bond at $75,000 each for both the violent nature of the crime as well as their lengthy criminal histories.

Unfortunately, in this case, the wheels of justice turned rather slowly leaving Nohr and those close to him anxiously awaiting an outcome for over three years. Reportedly, Lapere and Drury dragged the process out by repeatedly firing their attorneys right before their trial dates. When they finally went to trial, Nohr says he was told the cases were "kind of a unique situation" due to the prosecutor having video of both of the suspects in the bar during business hours as well as them robbing it hours later. He explains how they analyzed how the suspects walked and demonstrated how it matched with the video of the robbery. He says the state had a slate of over 30 witnesses and states, "This DA in Green Bay and the sheriffs and detectives involved were amazing." He also remarks he was "impressed" with the jury and he "could not believe how focused they were".

When both sides had pleaded their case in both trials, each jury ultimately came back with a guilty verdict. A few months ago, Lapere was sentenced to 26 years for the crime, and Nohr suspects Drury, who turned down a plea agreement, will receive a similar stretch at his sentencing in December. When we asked Nohr if he felt justice had been served, he responded with a quick and simple, "Yes." He says he feels "relieved" adding, "Even with all that evidence, you just never know for sure." He credits the appropriate outcomes in the cases to a "great job by the DA's office, police officers and the jury…it was truly a combined effort". He adds that he is “so thankful to the witnesses and everyone involved for getting this taken care of”.