STURGEON BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — A Door County jury convicted Richard Pierce Friday of killing his wife, Carol Jean, in 1975. Her body has never been found.
Although she disappeared in 1975, charges weren’t filed until 2018.
The verdict comes after a two-week trial in which Pierce, now 86, did not testify. He was convicted of first-degree murder and disinterment of the dead
Sentencing is set for Aug. 5, court records show.
The couple was planning to move from Sturgeon Bay to Cheboygan, Michigan, around the time Carol Jean Pierce disappeared, investigators say. Richard Pierce claims his wife left him, but prosecutors say he told different versions of the story to various people.
Prosecutors say Richard Pierce benefited from Carol Jean Pierce’s death with “a pension unencumbered by a wife; most of the important belongings of their marriage; land and a home in Michigan; a new girlfriend weeks after Carol Jean’s disappearance, as well as the benefit of Carol Jean’s silence.”
Police have said there was no new evidence, but current prosecutors decided to move forward with the charges.
