Tim Ryan, tryan@wolfrivermedia.com
Leader Photo by Tim Ryan Rebecca Malueg appears by video hookup with her attorney, Paul Zilles, for an initial appearance on a charge of attempted first-degree intentional homicide before Judge James Habeck on Wednesday.
A Mattoon woman was charged Wednesday with attempted homicide as a result of a shooting incident in the village early Sunday.
Rebecca L. Malueg, 32, is accused of firing a .243 caliber hunting rifle at a 24-year-old man at their home on Marble Avenue during a domestic dispute in what the criminal complaint alleges was an intentional attempt to kill him.
Malueg could face a maximum 60 years in prison if found guilty. She is also charged with a misdemeanor count of possessing a firearm while intoxicated.
Malueg was ordered held on a $100,000 cash bond and is scheduled for a preliminary hearing on April 1.
The Shawano County Sheriff’s Department Special Response Team was called to the incident around 12:45 a.m. Sunday and found the man with what were described as significant injuries as a result of a gun shot.
He was treated by emergency responders from Mattoon Ambulance and taken to a Wausau hospital.
According to the criminal complaint, the incident followed a night of drinking by the couple before returning home where an argument escalated.
Malueg allegedly went into a bedroom where two hunting rifles and a shotgun were kept.
The man told authorities that when he entered the bedroom he saw Malueg standing on the bed with one of the rifles pointed at him.
He backed out of the room and Malueg fired a shot through the door, striking him in the arm, according to his statement in the criminal complaint. He said he looked down at his arm to find it had been “blown apart into at least three different pieces.”
Malueg told authorities she didn’t know the gun was loaded.
Authorities found two rifles on the bedroom mattress, along with a box of ammunition, according to the complaint.
Shawano-Menominee County District Attorney Greg Parker asked the court for a $250,000 cash bond at Malueg’s initial appearance Wednesday, citing “the nature and gravity of the offense.”
He said the victim suffered a very serious wound that will result in long-term damage.
Defense attorney Paul Zilles called the incident “an aberration” in Malueg’s behavior and asked for a bond between $2,500 and $5,000.
Judge James Habeck said the severe charges, as well as what basically amounted to a confession from Malueg in her statement to authorities, and a previous bail jumping charge warranted a higher bond amount.