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Jack Willis Nissalke, 42, is facing charges of assault with a dangerous weapon, terroristic threats and obstruction after he allegedly threatened officers with a metal bar on the front porch of his home.
Authorities were there to collect a DNA sample as part of their investigation into the fatal stabbing of Ada Frances Senenfelder, who was found dead in her home in 1985. Nissalke was later charged in the killing.
In court Tuesday, Nissalke’s attorney Chuck Ramsay challenged whether an assault actually occurred and whether a dangerous weapon was involved in the DNA incident. He is also challenging the information provided to the court before the search warrant was approved to obtain hair and blood samples from his client. Ramsay said the warrant application improperly omitted key information: that Nissalke had already voluntarily given authorities a saliva DNA sample.
Other issues pertaining to statements Nissalke made while at the hospital to police and a nurse and voluntary statements made at the police station were cleared up before Tuesday’s hearing, Ramsay said.
Assistant Winona County Attorney Tom Gort submitted police reports, audio recordings and transcripts to the court to prove there was sufficient information to obtain the search warrant and that an assault occurred. He also called Winona Police Investigator Jay Rasmussen to testify about the incident and the events leading up to it.
Rasmussen said Nissalke had been cooperative through the majority of a renewed investigation into the killing of Senenfelder beginning in the fall of 2006. He said police had an interest in Nissalke and followed him in December 2006, ultimately obtaining a cigarette butt he had smoked. Saliva DNA from that cigarette butt and saliva DNA provided voluntarily by Nissalke were compared against other DNA evidence found at the scene of Senenfelder’s alleged murder. DNA testing showed that Nissalke could not be excluded as being a contributor of that DNA, but Rasmussen said it was later determined that hair and blood samples from Nissalke were needed to compare against other evidence found in Senenfelder’s home.
Rasmussen testified that at about 9:36 a.m. May 22, 2008, he and a team of investigators attempted to execute a search warrant to obtain those samples at Nissalke’s home. Rasmussen said Nissalke appeared agitated and confrontational when officers arrived and explained the warrant. He said Nissalke had the option of either cooperating or going to jail.
After going in and out of the house and ending up on the sidewalk, Rasmussen said Nissalke tore up the warrant and used vulgar language toward officers before returning to the house, slamming the front door shut. Rasmussen said he left the front porch and noticed his fellow officers with guns drawn. He said he spun around, drawing his own gun and noticed Nissalke standing on the porch holding a 12-pound, 63-inch metal bar like a baseball bat. Rasmussen said Nissalke appeared “very angry” at that point and police ordered him to drop the bar.
Nissalke never swung the bar at officers, but Rasmussen recalled being scared and surprised the incident turned into something he didn’t expect.
“He could have hit us with a metal pipe,” Rasmussen said, “and he was angry.”
He said Nissalke held the bar for somewhere between five and ten seconds before he dropped it. That’s when police arrested him for obstruction, terroristic threats and assault with a dangerous weapon.
Judge Mary Leahy gave Gort and Ramsay a two-week deadline to submit written arguments based on the evidence and Rasmussen’s testimony and five days after that to submit replies. She will then take the case under advisement and make a decision on Nissalke’s challenges.
Nissalke remains in the Winona County Jail on $5 million bail on charges he stabbed Senenfelder to death because she snitched on a fellow gang member, according to the criminal complaint.
Kevin Behr may be reached at (507) 453-3524 or at kbehr@winonadailynews.com.
