Thomas Routt Jr. convicted felon shoots and kills Wisconsin newly wedded couple in robbery gone wrong at Elkhorn sports bar. Victims id as Gina Weingart and Emerson Weingart. Suspect had been recently paroled.
A man with prior felony convictions has admitted shooting a newlywed Wisconsin couple inside a sports bar in a robbery gone wrong, having taking off with less than $150 from the cash drawer, police said.
Thomas Routt Jr., 57, was charged with two counts of first-degree intentional homicide in the Feb. 1 shooting deaths of Gina Weingart, 37, and her husband, Emerson Weingart, 33, Elkhorn police said Friday.
The parolee with a long rap sheet told investigators that he opened fire at the Sports Page Bar, in Elkhorn, where Gina worked, intending to rob the establishment — and that he stole between $120 and $140 from a cash drawer before fleeing in his vehicle to his home, police said.
Suspect followed witness and fired at them as they fled sports bar
A witness reported that Routt was inside the bar for about 30 minutes playing a video game machine before pulling out a gun and ordering the couple and a third person, who were the only people left at the venue, not to move.
‘The eyewitness said Routt brandished a handgun and pointed it at Gina, the bartender, and ordered them not to move,’ police said. ‘The eyewitness said they instinctively got up off their barstool and Routt pointed the gun at the eyewitness and ordered the eyewitness not to move.’
Routt then allegedly opened fire as the eyewitness ran out of the bar and called 911, police said.
He was arrested by the Walworth County Sheriff’s Office at 3:40 a.m. Feb. 4 on a Department of Corrections hold while he was on parole for arson.
‘Routt subsequently admitted to shooting both Emerson and Gina Weingart and following the eyewitness out the back door and shooting at the eyewitness as they fled,’ police said.
Senseless act of violence
Rout also faces one count of attempted first-degree intentional homicide, armed robbery and felon in possession of a firearm.
‘Routt said the next morning he discarded the weapon and ammunition in a trash receptacle at the Handi-Mart in Lake Como,’ police said, adding that they later retrieved a 9mm handgun and ammo from the garbage.
On Friday, Routt appeared in court, where Emerson’s father, Jeff Weingart, addressed the judge and called the suspect a monster, CBS 58 reported.
‘Our families have been devastated by this senseless act of violence,’ he said, according to the outlet.
Walworth County District Attorney Zeke Wiedenfeld said: ‘The defendant killed two people and attempted to kill a third.’
Routt’s next court appearance is scheduled for Wednesday.
Recent parole
‘We will be pleading not guilty,’ his attorney, Russell Jones, told CBS 58. ‘It wouldn’t surprise me if there were surveillance cameras, but at this point we have not been provided any video footage of anything.’
Routt, a convicted felon with a criminal history dating back to 1995 for burglary and arson, is barred from possessing firearms.
He was paroled by Gov. Tony Evers in 2020 and was on community supervision at the time of the shooting.
‘Please recall that the system that convicted and incarcerated him failed,’ Jeff Weingart said in court, according to the CBS 58.
‘Find out why Tony Evers’ administration paroled this monster who committed this brazen act that took the lives of two very special, beautiful, and loving people in Gina and Emerson,’ the father added.
His son and daughter-in-law, who grew up in Wisconsin, began dating in 2020 and soon ‘became inseparable,’ according to their obituaries.
Routt remains held in jail pending $2 million bond.
