WASECA — As a murder trial unfolds in Rochester, anguish born of pain culminates in Waseca.

Two years after two family members were killed and another seriously injured in their rural Waseca home, the trial of 26-year-old Michael Zabawa has finally begun.

The plea-bargain arrangement townspeople had hoped for has not come to pass, prompting angst to spring anew among Wasecans who have steadfastly supported the victimized family as if it were their own.

“I think most people would say they’re surprised it got this far,” cafe proprietor Dean Worke said of a trial expected to take weeks to produce a result most feel is a foregone conclusion.

“The system in America has to take over and let the truth come out,” said the Rev. Roger Haug of Grace Lutheran Church. “And it seems that it will be a no-brainer.”

Zabawa is accused of murdering Tracy Kruger and 13-year-old son Alec and gravely wounding wife and mother Hilary Kruger.

The incident happened after Zabawa drove his truck into a nearby snowy ditch, entered the Kruger home and, Zabawa has told investigators, accidentally shot the three in a scuffle for Kruger’s shotgun.

On the record, Wasecans utter diplomatically safe comments about an accused person’s right to a trial.

Off the record, they give the “accident” defense about as much credence as a tooth fairy tale and say they fully expect the justice system to give the killer his just deserts.

“He should go to prison for the rest of his ‘career,’” a retired Wasecan said this week as he headed out the door of a downtown business.

Hilary Kruger will testify at the trial. She has routinely declined media requests for interviews while showing a strength of character that belies the horrific experience she’s endured.

“To all of us, she’s a hero,” said Haug, her pastor. “Every day we have her is one more day than we thought we would.”

Haug tells of how she has softened others’ pain by ministering to them — comforting those who would comfort her, as it were.

“Her faith has allowed her to be strong for the rest of us. She doesn’t even realize how much she’s helped other people out with her strength,” Haug said.

Dale DeRaad, Kruger’s boss at a Waseca accounting firm, said the trial is being looked upon as a last milepost in the family’s ordeal.

“There’s going to be a price to pay, and hopefully the family will be able to get some amount of closure,” DeRaad said.

“I sense that they’ve had their pain and suffering, and now it’s time for them to go through this. Hilary and her family want justice to be done.”

The community held multiple fundraisers for the family following the shootings and continues to step up to the plate, said Waseca Mayor Roy Srp, stressing that it’s taken a long two years for the case to come to trial.

“I think this has been lingering in the back of people’s minds, and this brings it to the forefront. It will help the community to move on.”

The case parallels that of Cally Jo Larson, a 12-year-old girl who was murdered in her Waseca home nearly 10 years ago.

Her killer, Lorenzo Sanchez, pleaded guilty, sparing the Larson family and community an agonizing trial.

“It would have been horrible,” said Cally Jo’s mother, Connie, who has a profound empathy for what Hilary Kruger will be going through as the Zabawa trial unfolds.

“My heart goes out to Hilary,” Larson said. If she were to give advice to Kruger, it would be this: “Just have faith.”

She said ultimate resolution of the case rests in the hands of the accused.

“True justice is when the person admits what he did and takes responsibility for what he did.”