Manuel M. Martinez, 68, a Hispanic/Latino male, was abducted from a downtown Madison apartment on North Brooks Street in mid-June 2022, beaten and bound at the wrists, and forced into his own vehicle, according to investigators who later obtained and executed search warrants in the case. Evidence gathered by Madison police indicated he was driven north toward Columbia County, where detectives from multiple agencies began searching rural areas near Portage after learning the kidnapping may have
turned deadly. His body was discovered along Klappstein Road near State Highway 16 in the Town of Lewiston; authorities said he had been shot, and early timelines placed the killing on June 14, 2022.
The investigation quickly produced suspects and a series of arrests in Madison. Three residents—Jesse J. Freiberg, then 28; Ja’Kenya K. Patty, 21; and Laura M. Johnson, 38—were taken into custody and booked in Columbia County. Freiberg was charged with first-degree intentional homicide; Patty and Johnson were charged as parties to first-degree intentional homicide. A Columbia County Sheriff’s Office news release emphasized there was no ongoing danger to the public once the arrests were made, and court appearances followed, with prosecutors outlining how Martinez was assaulted, transported to rural Lewiston, and shot—at least one account noting he was fleeing with his hands tied when he was killed.
As the case moved through court, local outlets documented substantial bail amounts set for each defendant, and filings described the sequence from the initial abduction to the rural shooting site. Subsequent records show that Freiberg later pleaded guilty to first-degree intentional homicide as a party to a crime and was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of extended supervision, while Patty and Johnson continued to face related homicide charges in the case.
Public incident databases and memorial listings corroborate key details: the location near WI-16 and Klappstein Road in Lewiston, the June 14 date, and that Martinez died by gun violence. Together with initial broadcast reports and sheriff’s statements, these sources frame a kidnapping-turned-homicide that began in Madison and ended on a quiet stretch of road outside Portage, where investigators recovered Martinez and began piecing together the trail that led to the arrests.
