WAUSAU — Steven K. Thompson, who in 1987 led police on a months-long manhunt that terrorized Wausau area residents, has died, according to the Marathon County Medical Examiner.
Thompson, who was widely known as “Rambo,” made headlines for months after escaping from a Michigan prison work camp, after which he made his way the Wausau area and broke into the home of Bob Rakow. According to court documents, Thompson shot Rakow and shot at a Marathon County Sheriff’s Deputy. He was sentenced to 24 years in prison.
After 16 years, in 2005, he was released on parole.
In 2009, he broke his parole and was on the run again, this time while working for criminal defense attorney Gene Linehan, who died in 2010. Police said he had made threatening comments toward Linehan’s wife.
Thompson was arrested a day later at a Schofield bar. He was convicted of a misdemeanor charges of making an unlawful threat.
Then in 2015, Thompson was in trouble with the law again and was convicted of battery. He was sentenced to five months in jail.
Thompson was found dead last week at his Wausau home, authorities said. He was 66.
