A Wisconsin man accused of fatally stabbing his mother more than 40 times allegedly told police he stopped at Dairy Queen before carrying out the gruesome attack.
Michael J. Hurlburt, 27, of Menomonie, was charged Tuesday in the death of his mother, 56-year-old Lisa M. Bragg-Hurlburt, who was killed Friday at her home in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. Police say Hurlburt called 911 around 8 p.m. and reported the killing himself, according to a news release.
“I would like to report a homicide,” Hurlburt allegedly told the dispatcher, according to a probable cause affidavit obtained by Law & Crime.
When the dispatcher asked how he knew there had been a homicide, he allegedly replied that he had killed his mother, saying: “I found a kitchen knife and I stabbed [her] like 40 times.”
Hurlburt later told police that he had decided around 4 p.m. that day to kill his mother. But before continuing on with his alleged plan, he stopped at Dairy Queen for what he described as a final meal, according to the affidavit.
Officers responded to the Half Moon Lake Apartments near Carson Park, where they found Bragg-Hurlburt dead at the scene. A bloody kitchen knife was recovered about six feet from her body, police said.
Hurlburt had told 911 dispatchers that he believed he had been “gang stalked by the U.S. Government and the Chinese” and said they had forced him to do things in life he did not want to do, according to the affidavit.
When asked what that had to do with his mother, he allegedly responded: “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.”
Hurlburt, who was taken into custody that day, later told investigators he had thought about killing his mother before because she had been “mean to him” during his childhood. He added that he allegedly went through with his plan because he wanted to “make a statement” to the rest of the family.
An autopsy later determined Bragg-Hurlburt suffered 44 stab wounds, primarily to her neck and upper back.
Bragg-Hurlburt was the director of the Colfax Public Library, according to a GoFundMe created for her family that described her as someone who was “always advocating for those in need.”
“She was an artist, a creative mind, and had a quirky sense of humor that brought joy to everyone around her,” the fundraiser states.
Hurlburt has been charged with first-degree intentional homicide in connection to the death of his mother.
Court records show Hurlburt faced prior criminal charges in Dunn County in 2024, including making terrorist threats and telephone harassment, WQOW reported. He had allegedly posted on social media about a shooting at Colfax High School and left the superintendent a voicemail claiming he owned an AR-15 and intended to kill him, the complaint alleged. In December 2025, that case was discharged after Hurlburt was found guilty but not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect.
Hurlburt remains in the Eau Claire County Jail on a $1 million cash bond. He is set to return to court in July.
