The complaint says Michael Hurlburt described stopping for food before going to his mother’s apartment.
EAU CLAIRE, Wis. — Police say a fatal stabbing at Half Moon Lake Apartments followed a plan Michael Jon Hurlburt formed about four hours earlier, before a Dairy Queen stop, a private talk with his mother and a 911 call.
The timeline is central to the first-degree intentional homicide charge against Hurlburt, 27, of Menomonie, in the death of Lisa Marie Bragg-Hurlburt, 56. Investigators say Hurlburt described deciding around 4 p.m. Friday, May 22, to kill his mother, then later told dispatchers and detectives that he had carried out the attack.
According to police accounts of the criminal complaint, Hurlburt told investigators the plan began at about 4 p.m. He allegedly said he had thought before about killing his mother because she was “mean to him” when he was young. Instead of going directly to her apartment, police said, he described wanting to eat first because he expected to be arrested after the killing. The restaurant he named was Dairy Queen. Investigators said Bragg-Hurlburt picked him up there, and he later told her he wanted to speak with her alone. That request led them to her apartment at Half Moon Lake Apartments near West Grand Avenue, a residential area not far from Carson Park.
The next part of the timeline moved inside the apartment. Police said Hurlburt allegedly told detectives he waited about five minutes after entering before attacking his mother with a kitchen knife. He allegedly said he stabbed her 30 to 40 times. The medical examiner later reported 44 stab wounds, most of them in the neck and upper back. Investigators said he told them he left while she was still breathing and that he was unable to “finish her off.” The complaint does not describe any other person witnessing the attack inside the apartment, and officials have not said another suspect is being sought. The knife was later found about 6 feet from Bragg-Hurlburt’s body.
At about 8 p.m., police said, Hurlburt called 911 and began with a statement that brought officers to the apartment. “I would like to report a homicide,” he allegedly told the dispatcher. When asked how he knew, police said he answered, “I killed her.” He allegedly identified the victim as his mother and said she might still be alive. The dispatcher asked what had happened, and Hurlburt allegedly said he found a kitchen knife and stabbed her about 40 times. The call gave police both the location and a reported confession before officers had reached the scene. It also gave dispatchers a first version of the motive Hurlburt allegedly described.
During that emergency call, Hurlburt allegedly made statements about being “gang stalked by the U.S. Government and the Chinese.” When the dispatcher asked what that had to do with his mother, he allegedly said he believed she had made him “crazy in the first place” and that outside forces were pushing him to get along with her. Those statements became part of the record reviewed by investigators after his arrest. Police have not publicly said whether a mental health evaluation has been ordered in the homicide case. The statements are allegations and reported accounts in a criminal proceeding, not a court finding about his mental state at the time of the killing.
Officers found Bragg-Hurlburt unresponsive and bleeding when they reached the apartment. She was pronounced dead there. Police then located Hurlburt near 6th Street and Congress Street, where he was taken into custody. That area is a short distance from the apartment complex and near a busy part of the city. After the arrest, Hurlburt was brought to police headquarters for questioning. Investigators said he received Miranda warnings and continued speaking with detectives. In the interview, he allegedly said he killed his mother to “make a statement” to the rest of the family. Authorities have not publicly detailed whether surveillance video, phone records or additional forensic testing will be used in the case.
The victim’s identity added a wider community dimension to the case. Bragg-Hurlburt was the director of the Colfax Public Library, a position she had held since 2016 after working there previously. Library system colleagues wrote after her death that she was not just the subject of a headline. A family fundraiser described her as someone who advocated for people in need, volunteered for many causes, made art and carried a quirky sense of humor. Her obituary said she was born in Woodruff, grew up in Rhinelander and spent a meaningful part of her life making the Colfax library a welcoming and safe place for people who walked through its doors.
Records from before the killing show Bragg-Hurlburt’s regular work in the village. In the same month she died, library posts under her name promoted a seed library, a book sale and a summer reading kickoff. A year earlier, she and youth services librarian Jolene Albricht were honored with the 2024 J.D. Simons Community Volunteer Award by the Colfax Commercial Club. Those records do not change the facts alleged in the criminal complaint, but they explain why her death was felt outside Eau Claire. The case involves an apartment crime scene, but it also affected the library staff, patrons and civic groups connected to Bragg-Hurlburt’s work in Colfax.
Hurlburt’s record also includes a prior Dunn County case reported publicly as involving allegations of terrorist threats and telephone harassment in 2024. Those allegations involved statements about Colfax High School and a voicemail to a superintendent. In December 2025, that case was discharged after Hurlburt was found guilty but not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect. The Eau Claire homicide case is separate. Prosecutors in the new case must prove the charge based on the evidence tied to Bragg-Hurlburt’s death, and any mental responsibility or competency issue would have to be handled through the court process.
The next public step is scheduled for July 6, when Hurlburt is due back in court. He remains in the Eau Claire County Jail on a $1 million cash bond. The court could address preliminary matters, evidence issues, scheduling or requests from either side. The investigation described so far includes the 911 call, the alleged police interview, the medical examiner’s findings, the knife recovered near the body and the arrest near 6th Street and Congress Street. Officials have not announced a trial date. Until the case is resolved, the charge remains pending and Hurlburt is presumed innocent under the law.
The alleged timeline now runs from a 4 p.m. plan to an 8 p.m. emergency call, with Bragg-Hurlburt dead and Hurlburt jailed. The next milestone is the July 6 court date in Eau Claire County.
Author note: Last updated June 22, 2026.