WAUSAU − A 34-year-old former Wausau man pleaded no contest Dec. 8 to causing first-degree reckless injury in connection with a February altercation and stabbing at a Wausau tavern.
Seth A. Menting, whose current address is listed as the New Lisbon Correctional Institute, also pleaded no contest to charges of aggravated battery and five counts of child pornography possession. As part of a plea bargain, the charge of causing first-degree reckless injury was reduced from a charge of attempted first-degree intentional homicide. Five additional counts of child pornography possession were dismissed but will be considered during sentencing.
Marathon County Circuit Judge Gregory Strasser scheduled Menting’s sentencing for Feb. 13.
According to the criminal complaint, at 10:42 p.m. Feb. 22, Menting was at Matt’s 101 Pub in Wausau when he got into an altercation with a 42-year-old man. Menting allegedly pulled out a knife and started swinging it at the man.
Patrons in the tavern pulled the two men apart, the complaint said. The victim fell to the floor and patrons helped him. A nurse in the tavern used belts to tie tourniquets on the man’s arm and leg, both of which suffered stab wounds.
Menting allegedly left the tavern before police arrived, but a witness knew his first name. Police were able to use security footage from the tavern to get Menting’s picture and used it to identify him from police photos, according to the complaint.
The victim told police he didn’t know why Menting stabbed him. He said he was playing pool with his girlfriend, then thought he was being stunned by a stun gun. The man said he saw the blood and thought he was going to die, according to the complaint.
An ambulance took the victim to a local hospital, where he spent time in the intensive care unit. Police learned, at one point, the victim was at risk of losing his leg or dying, according to the complaint.
Police visited the apartment of one of Menting’s friends, who was reportedly with Menting that night. They found Menting in the friend’s apartment. The friend told police he didn’t know Menting had a knife with him, according to the complaint.
The friend said when the two men started fighting he tried to get between them to break up the fight. He saw he had blood all over his hands and went to the bathroom to wash them. When he came out, he told police, he couldn’t find Menting, according to the complaint.
Menting said his friend had nothing to do with the stabbing. He told police he threw the knife into the lake after he left the tavern. Police later found the knife about 15 feet from the road, according to the complaint.
Police took Menting’s phone as part of their search. They saw he texted another friend the night of the stabbing and told her he was going back to prison, according to the complaint.
Police also found several pictures of child pornography on the phone, according to the complaint. Menting is a lifetime sex offender registrant.
Contact Karen Madden kmadden@usatodayco.com. Follow her on Twitter @KMadden715, Instagram @kmadden715 or Facebook at www.facebook.com/karen.madden.33.
This article originally appeared on Wausau Daily Herald: 34-year-old man pleads no contest to February stabbing at Wausau bar
Reporting by Karen Madden, Wausau Daily Herald / Wausau Daily Herald
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