Gene Meyer, left, appears in court Feb. 13, 2023, for the 1988 murder of Betty Rolf in Grand Chute. PC: Fox 11 Online
APPLETON, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — The suspect in a 1988 murder and sexual assault made his initial appearance Monday in Outagamie County court.
Gene Meyer, now 67, is charged with first-degree murder and first-degree sexual assault with use of a dangerous weapon in the murder of Betty Rolf, 60. Rolf’s body was found Nov. 7, 1988, in Grand Chute, just outside the Appleton city limits.
Bond was set at $2 million cash. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Feb. 28.
The criminal complaint says investigators used “familial DNA searching” to examine DNA records of people who may be biological relatives of the suspect. Police eventually used a DNA sample from Meyer’s truck in Washington State to match him to evidence from the scene.
“The DNA profile from the swabbing of the defendant’s truck matched the DNA profile of the sperm found on the vaginal swabs which were obtained during the autopsy of the murdered victim. The likelihood ratio statistic calculated for this comparison is greater than 1 quadrillion,” the criminal complaint states.
Meyer lived about a mile from the crime scene at the time Wolf was murdered, according to the complaint.
Normally, the statute of limitations would have long since expired for the sexual assault, but the ‘clock’ on that stops if a suspect is out of state. The complaint does not offer a specific date of when Meyer moved there but contends he fled to Washington after committing the crime. The complaint also says he has a criminal history in Washington.
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