Life sentence in Waushara County homicide

A Waushara County man will spend the rest of his life in prison for beating a man to death at a Mount Morris hotel in 2013.

After deliberating less than two hours, a Waushara County jury found Travis Petersen, 44, guilty of first-degree intentional homicide in connection to the death of Robert J. Kasun, 50. He was immediately sentenced to life in prison with no possibility of being released on extended supervision.

Kasun was found dead in a room at the Mount Morris Hotel, N3745 State Road 152, in the town of Mount Morris on March 6, 2013.

According to court documents, Kasun died from blunt force trauma that included a fractured skull, 10 broken rib bones and a severed aorta, which resulted in internal bleeding and Kasun's death. The forensic pathologist who conducted the autopsy determined Kasun's death was consistent with a stomping or kneeing force to his upper body and head.

Residents of the hotel had reported hearing loud voices and arguing coming from Kasun's room on March 5. Petersen, who lived in the room next door to Kasun, told authorities he had been drinking beer with Kasun in Kasun's room that day, but he left at 3:30 p.m. when he received a phone call.

During the investigation, authorities found blood in Kasun's room on the kitchen floor, in the living area and on the furnishings. They also found bloody footprints. Investigators also found bloody footprints in Petersen's room.

Further investigation determined the blood in Petersen's room belonged to Kasun and photographs showed the footprints in Kasun's room were consistent with those found in Petersen's room.

Jennifer K. Woldt: (920) 426-6676 or jwoldt@thenorthwestern.com; on Twitter, @ONW_Woldt.