HOUGHTON — The Wisconsin man alleged to have fatally shot his grandfather in December in Hancock Township filed a motion in Houghton County Circuit Court Thursday to suppress statements from his police interrogation he said had been taken in violation of his Miranda rights. 

Jacob Kempainen, 21, was arrested in Clear Lake, Iowa, along with his mother Margaret Kempainen, on Dec. 19, the day after police found his grandfather, Alvin Kempainen, 86, dead of a gunshot wound at his home.

Jacob was read his Miranda rights in their entirety upon his arrest in Iowa, at which point he said he would decline to speak to law enforcement, said the motion, prepared by Jacob’s attorney, David Gemignani.

Upon being taken to the county jail, where Kempainen asked the arresting officer “Am I allowed to consent to not be interviewed?” to which the officer replied yes. A half-hour after the officer left, he was replaced by another officer, who the motion said was not notified of Jacob exercising his right to remain silent. 

The new Clear Lake officer reiterated that Jacob had been read his Miranda rights, but did not re-read them, the motion said. After a conversation with the new officer, Jacob said ‘—- it, let’s do it,” and went with the officer into the interrogation room, where a third officer from Houghton County participated via video.

The officers restate that he is under no obligation to talk, and at one point the Clear Lake officer asks Jacob if he is “cool,” but did not formally re-read Miranda rights. He also indicates at several points he does not want to answer the questions, the motion said. Those statements came before he eventually discussed activities in Michigan. 

The motion cites four tests in Michigan state law to determine if a suspect’s Miranda rights are being honored: Whether there was a significant amount of time between interrogations, whether the suspect was given fresh Miranda warnings at the start of the second interrogation, whether the second interrogation covers a different crime, and whether another police officer conducted the second interrogation. 

“Throughout the interrogation Mr. Kempainen repeatedly indicates that he did not want to answer questions, but the interrogation continues,” the motion said. “During that time, Mr. Kempainen does say he is scared, and he does not want to answer questions about being up in Michigan during the relevant time of the murder. He specifically indicated that he did not want to answer questions about Michigan, but the two officers persisted.”

The defendant also requested access to the counseling record of Jacob’s juvenile sister, referred to as KK during June’s preliminary hearing. In the motion, the defense said it was requesting KK’s counseling records to understand the case from her perspective, particularly in relation to her giving the order to kill her grandfather. At the hearing, KK had testified she had undergone coercion and brainwashing from Margaret.

Kempainen is charged with two counts of homicide-open murder, and an additional count of felony firearms.

Jacob Kempainen’s case, along with that of his mother, Margaret Kempainen, is on the court’s October trial calendar. A hearing on the motions is scheduled for Oct. 7.