TESCHLER NOW CHARGED IN IOWA BURGLARY
Friday, February 10th, 2006 -- 9:16 AM
Burglary charges have been filed against a Thorp woman that search warrants indicate may have witnessed the murder of Christine Rudy. 18-year-old Heather Teschler is charged with second-degree burglary in Clayton County, Iowa.
Search warrants indicate Teschler told another woman that she was present in November when Shaun Rudy shot his wife, Christine, on a rural Clark County road. The 21-year-old Thorp woman was believed to be six months pregnant at the time of her death.
Clark County authorities believe the gun used in the shooting was stolen from a home in Iowa. Teschler is now the only only person charged in connection with that burglary, though authorities say they believe Shaun Rudy was also there.
Sharon Gaul, the owner of the Guttenburg, Iowa home Teschler is alleged to have broken in to, told Central Wisconsin Broadcasting News she doesn?t know Teschler or Rudy and authorities have described this as a ?crime of opportunity?.
She reported having nearly $5,000 of property stolen, including three firearms. Gaul said she?d been interviewed by Clark County authorities and told that some of her property has been recovered, but is being held as possible evidence.
Clayton County is located just across the Mississippi River from Grant County where past reports indicate Christine Rudy was left by her husband and Heather Teschler just days before authorities believe she was murdered. She had to walk between seven and ten miles through the night to Fennimore, where Shaun - and presumably Heather Teschler ? picked her up the next afternoon. Both Teschler and Shaun Rudy have a history of meth use, and Clayton County is known to be a hotbed for the popular drug. In fact, the County has taken the remarkable step of testing newborn babies for the meth. In the first year of the program, two of the first ten newborns tested positive for meth.
Teschler remains in Taylor County Jail on the Clayton County arrest warrant. It remains unclear when she will be extradited to Iowa to face the charges.
Shaun Rudy remains in Clark County Jail on drug and firearm charges.
No one has been charged in the murder of Christine Rudy, though Clark County District Attorney Darwin Zwieg says he plans to charge Shaun Rudy when more reports come back from the State Crime Lab in Madison.
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