Watertown man's trial in 2016 Helenville bank heist underway

Frank Raff, Hall’s court-appointed defense attorney, told jurors they likely won’t find DNA evidence gathered by Jefferson County investigators to be enough to send his client to prison. Jefferson County District Attorney Monica Hall told the panel that it would be presented with DNA and other evidence against Richard Hall that she called “strong.”

Monica Hall spent much of her opening statement summarizing a criminal complaint in the Helenville bank robbery, going into detail about the defendant’s alleged criminal actions related to the incident that dates to Dec. 19, 2016.

Richard Hall’s crime spree began that frigid day with a brief stakeout of Helenville’s American National Bank, according to the complaint. The bank has since closed.

Richard Hall also faces two counts of false imprisonment using a dangerous weapon during the heist and a separate count of carjacking for stealing a bank employee’s car.

The bank lost $49,134, according to the bank’s insurer, One Beacon Insurance Group.

Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department deputies responded to a mid-day alarm at the bank, according to court records.

Deputies approached the rear entrance of the bank, “where they were met by two women, both of whom were visibly upset,” according to the complaint.

The two women were bank employees.

The victims described a white male, approximately six feet tall with a heavier build. He was armed with a black, semi-automatic pistol.

Witnesses said the thief had disguised himself in heavy clothing and a department-of-public-works-style orange and yellow reflective vest.

Face masks were being used extensively at the time of the robbery because of cold weather, and the man who robbed the bank was wearing one, witnesses said.

Bank employees said the man robbed the bank, then bound one of them with tape. He stole one of the victim’s cars, a red Hyundai Accent, and drove away.

Witnesses spoke of the black, 9 mm. handgun.

“He held the firearm in his left hand and was pointing it at (one of the bank employees’ heads),” the complaint read. “The man said many times he would hurt her. He said many times that the bank was insured and it wasn’t worth getting hurt over.”

A Jefferson County sheriff’s deputy learned from friends that, two days after the bank robbery, Richard Hall had gone to Domani Salon and Spa in Watertown with a large roll of cash in his possession, the complaint reads.

“He was handing out $20 tips to staff,” the complaint reads in part. “According to (the deputy’s) friends, it was very unusual for the defendant to be tipping everyone at the salon.”

Monica Hall said that, on Jan. 7, 2017, Jefferson County Sheriff’s deputies were called to N4990 N. Helenville Road in Helenville to talk to a witness. The witness said he was walking down a snowmobile trail off Depot Road when he saw a bag.

The witness took this bag home and started to go through it, the complaint read.

“He saw an orange safety vest in the bag that seemed to match the one allegedly worn by Hall in the bank,” the complaint read. “He recognized it from a Facebook post about the bank robbery and called the sheriff’s office.”

The Wisconsin State Crime Lab compared DNA from a facemask found along the snowmobile trail in Helenville to a sample of Richard Hall’s DNA. The two samples matched, Monica Hall said.

“The likelihood that this could be someone else’s DNA is very small,” she said. “We would need multiple times the Earth’s population to find a match. The DNA match is very strong. In the end, I believe I can prove that the defendant committed these crimes.”

If convicted on the five counts connected to his alleged robbery of Helenville bank, Richard Hall could face a maximum of 147 years in prison and fines of up to $320,000.

Circuit Court Judge William Hue is presiding over Richard Hall’s trial.

Richard Hall also faces charges in Jefferson County in connection with the Jan. 17, 2018 burglary of In Good Spirits in Rome, as well as bail jumping, disorderly conduct, misappropriating identification, battery, domestic abuse and strangulation/suffocation.