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Two men back in court for kidnapping, threatening to kill

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Victim was taken off street, hauled to a warehouse, forced to strip and threatened to be killed with meat saw

Two men accused of kidnapping an 18-year-old man and threatening to kill him with a meat saw will be back in a Minnesota court next week.

John Demaske of Black River Falls, Wis., and Abdirahman Samatar of Goodview, Minn., are charged with false imprisonment, assault with a dangerous weapon and making terroristic threats. 

The victim says he was taken off the street and hauled to a warehouse, where he was forced to strip naked. He says the men turned on a saw and threatened to cut off his head. 

Demaske has several past court cases in Wisconsin, including a drunk driving conviction in Trempealeau County. Samatar reportedly had one misdemeanor charge in 1999 in Jackson County, which was dismissed.

A native of Prairie du Chien, Brad graduated from UW - La Crosse and has worked in radio news for more than 30 years, mostly in the La Crosse area. He regularly covers local courts and city and county government. Brad produces the features "Yesterday in La Crosse" and "What's Buried on Brad's Desk." He also writes the website "Triviazoids," which finds odd connections between events that happen on a certain date, and he writes and performs with the local comedy group Heart of La Crosse. Brad been featured on several national TV programs because of his memory skills.

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