Local News

Tools

Father Accused Of Killing Son Dies

By Associated Press

MADISON - A Middleton father accused of killing his 12-year-old son before shooting himself has died of his wounds. Madison police who discovered the two mortally wounded in a parked SUV on Tuesday released no information on a possible motive. Ryan Dutter, 36, died Wednesday, a day after the death of his son, Kyle Dutter. Police spokesman Joel DeSpain said officers involved in the case would be meeting Thursday, but they weren't able to interview the father before he died. Ryan Dutter had worked as a mortgage broker and filed for bankruptcy last fall. Court records show he and Kyle's mother divorced in 1999. Kyle's grandfather, Kenneth Bach of Beloit, said Kyle lived with his father during the week and visited his mother in Beloit on weekends. Jean Firn of SMILES, a nonprofit that offers therapeutic horse riding lessons for the disabled, remembers Ryan Dutter as a supportive dad who brought his developmentally disabled son to the Darien horse farm for two years. The father would walk alongside as his son sat atop the horse, holding the reins, at the farm. "We saw no conflict," Firn said, adding that the shootings came as a great shock. Ryan Dutter also created a public Web site last summer with updates for family and friends on what Kyle was doing. "This is Kyle's very own Web site for those who want to see Kyle grow in life," the site says. Much of the focus is on the boy's love of Halloween. He recently visited a pumpkin patch, and photos show his trip to Fright Fest at Six Flags Great America in Gurnee, Ill. The Web site also has information on Kyle's medical issues, listing 10 medical professionals he was seeing, including a neurologist, an orthopedist and a pediatrician specializing in autism. Kyle was in sixth grade at Glacier Creek Middle School in Cross Plains. School administrators offered counseling Wednesday for students and staff. Middleton-Cross Plains Schools Superintendent Don Johnson said it was Kyle's first year in the district. He had attended school in the Beloit area last year. Ryan Dutter previously lived in Kenosha County, where he became a candidate in early 2007 for chairman of the town of Somers before withdrawing just before the primary, saying the campaign could adversely affect his bank job.
(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)