{"id":157245,"date":"2020-12-02T13:37:14","date_gmt":"2020-12-02T21:37:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=157245"},"modified":"2020-12-02T15:00:20","modified_gmt":"2020-12-02T23:00:20","slug":"wisconsin-man-gets-life-for-ho-chunk-casino-murder","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wisconsin-man-gets-life-for-ho-chunk-casino-murder\/","title":{"rendered":"Wisconsin Man Gets Life for Ho-Chunk Casino Murder"},"content":{"rendered":"

A gambler accused<\/a> of stabbing an 88-year-old man to death outside the Ho-Chunk casino<\/a> in Baraboo apologized to the victim\u2019s family shortly before he was sentenced to life Tuesday.<\/p>\n

\"Robert
Robert Pulvermacher appears in Sauk County Circuit Court shortly after his capture in January last year. Pulvermacher was sentenced to life in prison this week. (Image: Tim Damos\/News Republic<\/em>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Robert Pulvermacher, 70, admitting killing Harold Johnson in January 2019 after the latter attempted to collect a gambling debt of just $100.<\/p>\n

\n

Security footage in the casino parking lot showed both men enter Johnson\u2019s car. But only Pulvermacher got out. He returned to the casino to play blackjack for a further seven hours before obtaining a ride to his home in Middleton, 40 miles away. He paid the driver $100.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Johnson\u2019s body was discovered the next day. He had been stabbed five times, twice in the neck.<\/p>\n

Pulvermacher Apologies, Enters No Contest Plea<\/strong><\/h2>\n

\u201cThe only thing that I can say is I\u2019m sorry it happened,\u201d Pulvermacher told Johnson\u2019s family in Sauk County Circuit Court, as reported by Baraboo News Republic<\/em>. \u201cThere\u2019s no reason it happened. It had no logical sense to it. I\u2019m sorry, that\u2019s all I can say.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

Pulvermacher was caught breaking into a business in Madison a week after the murder, following a manhunt. He had been sleeping outdoors for several days. His trial was delayed for ten months after he contracted COVID-19 in jail.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

He entered a plea of no contest before his sentencing Tuesday.<\/p>\n

Pulvermacher\u2019s defense attorneys, David Susens and Leonie Dolch, said their client had suffered severe health problems, including a heart attack and stroke, which had led to neurological issues.<\/p>\n

Pulvermacher had no recollection of killing Johnson, they claimed and had expressed remorse. He wanted to take responsibility for his actions, they added.<\/p>\n

Prison Break<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Dolch said Pulvermacher\u2019s life had changed dramatically in the early 1990s when he became a gambling addict and drifted into theft and burglary. In 1997, he escaped from a federal prison near Duluth, Minn. During his recapture about a week later, he wrestled a gun away from a police officer in Adams, Wisc., and tried to take another officer hostage.<\/p>\n

Despite this, his brother, Charlie Pulvermacher, claimed he was not normally a violent man.<\/p>\n

To be quite honest\u2026 Bob has respect for the old folks,\u201d<\/strong> Charlie Pulvermacher told 27 News last year, as his brother was being sought for Johnson\u2019s killing. \u201cBob\u2019s an odd duck. But violent, he\u2019s not.\u201d<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

At sentencing, Judge Michael Screnock was unmoved by the defense\u2019s pleas for leniency.<\/p>\n

\u201cMr. Pulvermacher has said it himself. I think it\u2019s fair to say everyone in the room would agree that what happened to Mr. Johnson doesn\u2019t make sense,\u201d Screnock said. \u201cIt is impossible to make sense of the suffering that Mr. Johnson went through.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A gambler accused of stabbing an 88-year-old man to death outside the Ho-Chunk casino in Baraboo apologized to the victim\u2019s family shortly before he was sentenced to life Tuesday. Robert Pulvermacher, 70, admitting killing Harold Johnson in January 2019 after the latter attempted to collect a gambling debt of just $100. Security footage in the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":157247,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nWisconsin Man Gets Life for Ho Chunk Casino Murder<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Robert Pulvermacher sentenced to life in prison for the murder of Harold Johnson outside the Ho-Chunk casino in Baraboo over $100 loan.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Wisconsin Man Gets Life for Ho Chunk Casino Murder\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Robert Pulvermacher sentenced to life in prison for the murder of Harold Johnson outside the Ho-Chunk casino in Baraboo over $100 loan.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wisconsin-man-gets-life-for-ho-chunk-casino-murder\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-12-02T21:37:14+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-12-02T23:00:20+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/pulvermacher2.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"874\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@casinoorgphilc\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wisconsin-man-gets-life-for-ho-chunk-casino-murder\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wisconsin-man-gets-life-for-ho-chunk-casino-murder\/\",\"name\":\"Wisconsin Man Gets Life for Ho Chunk Casino Murder\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wisconsin-man-gets-life-for-ho-chunk-casino-murder\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wisconsin-man-gets-life-for-ho-chunk-casino-murder\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/pulvermacher2.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-12-02T21:37:14+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-12-02T23:00:20+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b\"},\"description\":\"Robert Pulvermacher sentenced to life in prison for the murder of Harold Johnson outside the Ho-Chunk casino in Baraboo over $100 loan.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wisconsin-man-gets-life-for-ho-chunk-casino-murder\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wisconsin-man-gets-life-for-ho-chunk-casino-murder\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wisconsin-man-gets-life-for-ho-chunk-casino-murder\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/pulvermacher2.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/pulvermacher2.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":874,\"caption\":\"Robert Pulvermacher appears in Sauk County Circuit Court shortly after his capture in January last year. 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