A Menomonie man remains held on a $1 million cash bond after authorities say he called 911 to report he had just killed his mother inside her Eau Claire apartment. Michael J. Hurlburt, 27, was charged Tuesday with first-degree intentional homicide following the Friday, May 22, 2026, stabbing death of 56-year-old Lisa M. Bragg-Hurlburt.
According to a probable cause affidavit, dispatchers received a call from Hurlburt around 8:00 p.m. reporting the incident at the Half Moon Lake Apartments near Carson Park. When asked how he knew a crime had occurred, Hurlburt allegedly told the dispatcher, “I would like to report a homicide. I found a kitchen knife and I stabbed [her] like 40 times.”
Eau Claire police officers and emergency personnel arrived at the West Grand Avenue apartment to find Bragg-Hurlburt suffering from multiple stab wounds. First responders attempted life-saving measures, but she died at the scene. Investigators recovered a bloody kitchen knife roughly six feet from her body. An autopsy later confirmed she suffered 44 stab wounds, primarily concentrated on her neck and upper back.
During police questioning, Hurlburt stated he made the decision to kill his mother around 4:00 p.m. that afternoon. He told investigators that before driving to her apartment, he stopped at a Dairy Queen for what he termed a final meal.
When authorities questioned his motive, Hurlburt told dispatchers he believed he was being “gang stalked by the U.S. Government and the Chinese,” claiming external forces compelled him to do things against his will. Regarding his mother, the affidavit notes Hurlburt stated, “I feel she kind of made me crazy in the first place and then they were forcing me to get along with her and like her and stuff.” He further told investigators he killed her to “make a statement” to the rest of his family, alleging she had been mean to him during his childhood.
Bragg-Hurlburt served as the director of the Colfax Public Library. A community online fundraiser organized to support her family described her as an artist with a creative mind and a quirky sense of humor who was “always advocating for those in need.”
Court records indicate this is not Hurlburt’s first interaction with the legal system involving violent threats. In 2024, he faced charges in Dunn County for telephone harassment and making terrorist threats after allegedly posting social media threats about a shooting at Colfax High School and leaving a voicemail threatening the school superintendent. That case concluded in December 2025, when a judge ruled Hurlburt guilty but not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect, resulting in a discharge.
The Eau Claire Police Department processed the scene and arrested Hurlburt with assistance from the Wisconsin State Patrol, Eau Claire Fire/EMS, the Menomonie Police Department, the Eau Claire County Medical Examiner’s Office, and the Eau Claire District Attorney’s Office. Hurlburt is currently scheduled for his next court appearance in July.
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