SIOUX FALLS — A Sioux Falls man accused of murdering a sheriff’s deputy last week held a hate toward the government and had an extensive history of escalating threats, family members said.
Joseph Hoek, 40, is currently facing life in prison and the death penalty in connection to the line-of-duty death of Ken Prorok, an eight-year law enforcement veteran.
According to court documents filed across South Dakota, Hoek was subject to multiple protection orders, with family members saying they’ve been repeatedly threatened and harassed by Hoek.
In a January application for a protection order, Hoek’s mother indicated to a Minnehaha County judge that she had cut contact with Hoek by blocking his phone number. To get around the block, she said Hoek left her a voicemail threatening to harm her, other family members or himself if contact wasn’t restored.
“He asks: ‘Do you want me to kill myself or somebody else? Do you want me to kill you? You are pushing me to an extreme limit I cannot handle,’” she recalled in her application. “This behavior has gone on for two decades. The threats are becoming worse and he is becoming more bold and fearless.”
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In a separate protection order application, filed in November 2023, Hoek’s uncle told a judge in Miner County that harassing phone calls and text messages were something he’d experienced for years.
“The harassment started out being things like ‘I hate you, I never want to see you again,’ et cetera,” his uncle wrote to the court. “This will go on for days. Then a month or more later, he apologizes, only to do the same thing weeks or a few months later.”
Both his mother and uncle said Hoek suffers from severe mental illness, with his uncle describing him as “deranged.” The uncle wrote that Hoek had spent time at various mental health institutions for treatment, but said he fails to routinely take any medication as prescribed, resulting in erratic behavior.
“For the past year he has not taken his medication for his mental state. He has become more and more mentally deranged,” Hofer wrote in November. “In the past few weeks my mom tells me that he has said to her if I had a gun, I would kill you.”
The hate, as described by his uncle, extended beyond just his family. The uncle told a judge that Hoek had allegedly threatened to kill strangers and had begun spewing “hate for the government and the law.”
During the morning hours of Friday, Feb. 2, police in Sioux Falls were investigating a series of tire slashings on the city’s south end.
“There were several witnesses, they called,” Clemens said. “Some people saw it taking place, other people saw the vehicle the suspect went into.”
Police identified Hoek as the suspect and placed him under arrest for intentional damage to property, stalking and a protection order violation — though the victim’s name was not released.
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The Minnehaha County Jail said it could not release information on whether Hoek was processed, citing its policy to only release information on current inmates.
Following his arrest in Sioux Falls, Hoek traveled to Madison, where he was reported to authorities there for allegedly making “homicidal comments” at a local business.
The call to police prompted the high-speed chase that resulted in Prorok’s death.
In an interview with investigators, Hoek allegedly declined to comment on anything following his initial interaction with police at a Madison gas station.
Now, Hoek is facing a first-degree murder charge, a Class A felony punishable by death.
Under South Dakota law, capital punishment may only be imposed if the conviction involved one or more of 10 aggravating factors. Relevant aggravating factors in Hoek’s case include:
- If the victim is a law enforcement officer, and
- If the offense was committed in order to prevent a lawful arrest.
South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley said the decision to pursue the death penalty cannot be made until further investigation is complete.
“Before I would make such a decision I would want a complete and thorough investigation of mitigating and aggravating factors. That is underway,” he said. “I would want a further opportunity to discuss the wishes of the victim’s family and I would want an opportunity to discuss this further with the sheriff and his department.”
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Only one person is currently sentenced to death in South Dakota: Lawrence Briley, convicted of murdering Chester Paoage in 2000.
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