Burlington

Kivi sentenced to life behind bars

Convicted murderer killed two brothers in drunken rage

By Jason Arndt

Staff Writer

Nathan Kivi, convicted of killing two brothers in Twin Lakes, will spend the rest of his life behind bars after he was sentenced in Kenosha County Circuit Court on June 3.

Kivi, 26, of Trevor, was found guilty by a jury on April 16 of two counts of first-degree intentional homicide, possession of a firearm by a felon along with two counts of felony bail jumping in the November 2017 double shooting.

Nathan Kivi

According online court records, Kenosha County Circuit Court judge Bruce Schroeder decided to sentence Kivi to two consecutive life sentences after he heard testimony from Richard and Kenneth Samuels’ sister and mother.

Kivi is also ordered to pay $31,000 in restitution as part of the sentence.

On Nov. 24, 2017, when Kivi was out on parole, he shot and killed the Samuel brothers in the parking lot of the Beach Bar, 402 S. Lake Ave., after an argument.

The argument, according to criminal complaint, escalated when someone threw a beer bottle that struck and broke the back window of Kivi’s pickup truck and he responded with gunfire.

Investigators determined he fired six shots, four of which struck Richard Samuel, and the other two striking Kenneth Samuel, the complaint states.

Kivi then fled the scene, but was later captured by authorities along Interstate 94 near Tomah in Monroe County, according to the complaint.

Investigators recovered a black 9-millimeter Ruger along with 125 rounds of ammunition and a full loaded magazine, the complaint states.

The complaint indicates Kivi told investigators he was drunk when the shooting happened shortly before 2 a.m.

“A drunk idiot in the bar started stuff and (Kivi’s friend) got lippy,” he alleged said. “Get me drunk and it’s ugly.”

“Hell, yeah, I was pissed off. I was blackout drunk. I didn’t sober up until seven this morning,” the complaint states.

 

Many violations

For Kivi, who was already out on bond for charges in Walworth County, had his probation revoked and was sentenced to 13 years behind bars prior to his trial on the homicide charges.

“The offender has committed the most horrendous act of taking away another’s life, which in turn deserves the harshest response,” an agent wrote in his probation revocation letter. “The only way the department can respond and achieve its mission of protecting the community is to incarcerate the offender from the rest of society, which justifies revocation.”

His probation stemmed from burglary convictions dating to 2012, when he was sentenced to two years in the Wisconsin Department of Corrections.

According to the revocation document, Kivi was accused of strangling two different women, including the mother of his child at a Village of Bloomfield residence in Walworth County.

Kivi was also convicted of misdemeanor disorderly conduct and felony bail jumping.

Strangulation and suffocation along with battery, both felonies, were dismissed, but read-in at a plea hearing before Walworth County Circuit Court judge Kristine E. Drettwan.

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