MENOMINEE INDIAN RESERVATION, Wis. (WFRV) – A 28-year-old man has been convicted of several charges in connection to the death of a man on the Menominee Indian Reservation.

Duane A. Waupoose Jr. was found guilty of voluntary manslaughter, assault with a dangerous weapon, and use of a firearm during a crime of violence on February 21, 2023.

Officials say that Waupoose and the victim were enrolled members of the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin and formerly resided on the reservation.

Evidence at the trial showed that around midnight on January 31, 2021, the defendant and others were approached by a group looking to ‘fight another person.’ A fight eventually broke out in the driveway of a home in the School View area of the Menominee Indian Reservation.

During the fight, Waupoose was shot and received minor injuries. He disarmed the man who shot him and pursued him down the driveway and into the street, hitting him with a shotgun.

According to officials, after the man fled, Waupoose caught up with him around 40 yards down the road and repeatedly hit him on his face and head, causing serious injuries which eventually resulted in his death.

“The jury’s verdict is the direct result of the collaborative effort and hard work of the Menominee Tribal Police Department and the FBI,” stated U.S. Attorney Haanstad. “The U.S. Attorney’s Office is fully committed to working with its federal, state, local, and tribal partners to make all of our communities safer places in which to live and work.   

Waupoose faces at least five years in prison and a maximum of life in prison when he is sentenced by Senior United States District Judge William Griesbach on June 2, 2023.

The Menominee Tribal Police Department and Federal Bureau of Investigation investigated this case with assistance from the Menominee Indian Reservation Violent Crime/Safe Trails Task Force. 

The Safe Trails Task Force was formed in 2003 by the United States Attorney’s Office, Menominee Tribal Police, FBI, Wisconsin Department of Justice-Division of Criminal Investigation, and the Sheriff’s Departments and District Attorney’s Offices of the counties adjoining the reservation to investigate and prosecute violent crimes committed on tribal land.