Man accused of stabbing ex-girlfriend in Walmart lot due in court

WEST BEND (WITI) — 50-year-old Craig Hron, the West Bend man accused of stabbing his former live-in girlfriend in a Walmart parking lot, is due in court Thursday, August 22.

It happened Sunday, August 4th at 7:00 a.m. at the Walmart on W. Paradise Drive.

Police say Craig Hron approached the woman in the parking lot, and attacked her with a knife as she tried to enter her vehicle.

“We heard this loud, blood curdling screaming. He was full of rage, just punching away, slamming the door against her, dragging her out, trying to get into the driver’s seat,” Cody Bauer, a co-worker of the victim said.

Bauer tried to step in and stop the attack.

“Punching him in the arm, just trying to get in there,” Bauer said.

The investigation determined Hron had parked his vehicle in the lot of a neighboring business and walked to where the victim routinely parked her vehicle and waited for her to leave the store. The victim reported Hron made comments regarding harming her son while attacking her.

The knife used in the attack and a facsimile firearm were recovered from the scene. The victim was able to fend off the attack and was eventually aided by a fellow co-worker who interceded. That man, and several other bystanders subdued Hron and held him until the police arrived and took him into custody without further incident.

The victim had filed for a Temporary Restraining Order against Hron in August; however the order had not been served on Hron as of the date of the attack.The victim received several lacerations which required immediate medical attention. The victim was transported to St. Joseph’s Hospital and is recovering.

Hron was arrested for Attempted First Degree Homicide, Stalking, and Aggravated Domestic Battery. He is in custody at the Washington County Jail. FOX6 News has learned Hron was part of a cold case investigation in the 1990s. 18-year-old Berit Beck was on her way to an Appleton computer training seminar in 1990, but she never made it. Her body was discovered in a ditch in Fond du Lac County.

The cause of death was strangulation and suffocation.

Law enforcement called Hron a suspect in that case, but the evidence never linked him to the crime. He was never charged.

The Washington County District Attorney’s Office is reviewing the charges in this latest case.