Man who allegedly threatened wife, co-worker faces weapons charges

      A former Union Grove and Burlington man, now living in Milwaukee, is accused of possessing illegal firearms and threatening to shoot people during separate confrontations with his wife and a co-worker last year.

      Donald R. Heath, 50, was charged Monday with three felonies in Racine County Circuit Court: possession of a machine gun; possession of a short-barreled shotgun or rifle; and possession of a firearm contrary to injunction.

      He is also charged with several misdemeanors as a result, including disorderly conduct, possession of a firearm while intoxicated and two counts of bail jumping.

      The charges stem from investigations of Heath’s use of weapons resulting from confrontations with his wife last August and with a co-worker in October. Both incidents occurred in Burlington and were investigated by the Racine County Sheriff’s Department.

      According to the criminal complaint filed in the case, Heath’s wife – who has since filed for divorce – feared Heath would shoot her during a confrontation at their home on Aug. 1.

      She said Heath became upset and accused her of cheating on him because she went to the Wisconsin State Fair with friends. Heath allegedly told her he was going to shoot whomever she spent the day with.

      The complaint further alleges that Heath later approached his wife at their Town of Burlington home with a black handgun, but soon retreated to another room and was heard to say, “Well, that saved a life,” as he pounded the gun on the counter as if it had jammed.

      That’s when his wife called 911.

      Deputies arrested Heath at the home that evening. The deputies allege that Heath had a strong odor of intoxicants on his breath, was unsteady when walking and was uncooperative with them as he was transported to a hospital for a blood draw.

      Deputies recovered a Glock 21 handgun from the basement of a home that was located next to a half-empty bottle of wine. Officials later located two gun safes and obtained permission from Heath to retrieve 40 more firearms from the home for safe keeping, according to the complaint.

      Among the weapons, officials allege, is a 9-millimeter submachine gun that is capable of firing more than one round per trigger pull. The gun also has a modified stock, which makes it shorter than the required 18 inches.

      Two months later deputies investigated complaint against Heath from a man who worked with him. The man told deputies Heath had threatened to shoot him during an argument on Oct. 6 in which Heath allegedly said he would “blow his f—ing head off.”

      The complaint contends Heath still owned a palm-sized handgun, which he gave to an acquaintance to hold for him after asking the acquaintance to lie and say he bought it from Heath for $225.

      As part of his bond for the August incident, Heath had been ordered by the court not to possess weapons.

      Heath made his initial appearance in court Monday and was ordered to have no contact with the victims, possess no weapons and not consume alcohol. He was also ordered to make a list of all the weapons he owns and turn the list over to the court.

      Heath was then released on a $2,000 signature bond.