La Crosse jury deliberations in Thao triple homicide trial will go into a second day

Jurors at the triple-homicide trial of Nya Thao in La Crosse did not reach a verdict Monday, and retired for the day, after about five hours of deliberations.

They will resume their work Tuesday morning.

The 34-year-old Thao is charged with fatally shooting three men outside a quarry near West Salem in July of 2021, in a dispute over apparently a $600 debt.

The trial began a week ago. Closing arguments were made earlier Monday.

Judge Elliott Levine told the jurors around 7:30 p.m. they could break for the evening. He told them to avoid any news accounts of the trial.

La Crosse County District Attorney Tim Gruenke said reliable evidence has pointed to both Thao and a second suspect, Kham Rattanasack, as the two men who carried out the murders of Pen Lor, Nemo Yang, and Trevor Maloney.

Rattanasack testified for the prosecution during the trial and could enter a negotiated plea later this summer.

Gruenke added that Rattanasack was the leader in the murder plan, and Thao was a follower, who brought him to the La Crosse area to deal drugs.

Investigators said Rattanasack gave Thao a gun and told him to shoot the victims.

Defense attorneys for Thao say the evidence points to Rattanasack as the shooter.

They argue that Bridget Schlicht, the woman who drove the victims to the quarry and took the stand last week as an eye witness, has not told the truth about the crime, and allegedly blamed Thao for the murders because she feared Rattanasack.