Murder Charge In Hmong Hunter's Death

A man suspected in the death of a Hmong hunter found earlier this month in a wildlife refuge has been charged with murder, according to court records Tuesday.

Sheriff's deputies arrested James Nichols, 28, of Peshtigo, Wis., after he showed up at a local hospital with a gunshot wound on Jan. 6, a day after the hunter was reported missing.

Messages left for Nichols' public defender, Kent Hoffmann, and his fiancée, Dacia James, were not immediately returned Tuesday.

James, 20, told The Associated Press previously that Nichols said he stabbed Cha Vang after Vang shot at him in the woods.

Vang's family has speculated that his killing was racially motivated.

The attorney general's office said Tuesday that Vang had been shot once with a shotgun and stabbed six times, mainly in the neck. He also had a three to four inch-long wooden stick protruding from his mouth.

Authorities say Nichols changed his story of the events that led to Vang's death. Also, investigators believe that Vang was shot from a closer distance than Nichols claims — and that Vang was turning away when shot.

His wife, Pang Vue, did not return a message left Tuesday. But shortly after his death, she told The Associated Press that he could not have provoked an attack because he did not speak English.

His death rekindled racial tensions in northern Wisconsin, where a Hmong deer hunter from St. Paul, Minn., fatally shot six white hunters two years ago. That hunter claimed one of the victims fired in his direction after they shouted racial epithets. He is serving multiple life terms.

Nichols was charged with first-degree intentional homicide, hiding a corpse and being a felon in possession of a firearm — all felonies, according to court records posted online.

Nichols was originally held on a parole violation from a burglary conviction. He was released from prison in 2002 after serving time for burglary and criminal damage to property.

The Hmong are an Asian ethnic group who migrated to Southeast Asia in the 18th century. The U.S. recruited the Hmong to fight the communist insurgent in Laos. After the fall that country, many Hmong fled and settled in the United States, mostly in Wisconsin, Minnesota, California and North Carolina.