Pratt Scene. PC: Winnebago County Sheriff's Office
OSHKOSH, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — Advancement in DNA testing led Winnebago County investigators to close a more than 60-year-old homicide case.
And while DNA testing was able to positively identify a suspect in the deadly stabbing of Wayne Pratt in 1963, no charges will be filed in the case because he died about a year and a half ago.
On June 12, 1963, Pratt, a gas station attendant, was killed at the former Enco Station along U.S. 41. Pratt’s wife told authorities that Wayne had been watching TV at home when a car pulled up to the gas station around 8:40 p.m. The Pratt’s lived in a small house roughly 50 feet from the station and Wayne walked over to help the customer.
About 15 minutes later, Pratt’s wife noticed the lights had not been turned on at the station so she walked over and found her husband deceased on the floor of the back room of the station, covered in a blanket. Wayne had 53 stab wounds. Evidence at the scene suggested the perpetrator was bleeding after the attack as well.
Numerous leads and dozens of interviews were followed up on in the 1960’s in an effort to find the killer. No arrests were made and there was limited information on the case after 1968.
The investigation went cold.
In 2011 the case was formally re-opened and evaluated for potential DNA evidence. Multiple items of evidence were sent to different laboratories for analysis. In 2015, Sorenson Forensics identified DNA mixtures on the blanket that had been used to cover Pratt. DNA mixtures couldn’t be entered into the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) to search for suspects, and the case went cold again.
In 2018 a warrant was signed to obtain a DNA standard from William A. Doxtator, of Bowler. Doxtator was identified as a suspect in the case just days after Pratt had been found murdered. Besides the initial investigation into Doxtator, the Sheriff’s Office had received tips on Doxtator in 1968 and 2009. New information had been developed on Doxtator in 2017, during the re-opened investigation. Doxtator, who was 82 years old in 2018, was not the only suspect to provide a DNA standard for this case.
In 2023, Sorenson Forensics conducted updated DNA testing and again, identified DNA mixtures. In 2024, Cybergenetics used the latest technology for solving degraded DNA and complex mixtures. Their TrueAllele data analysis determined that Doxtator’s DNA was statistically present on the blanket that had been used to cover Pratt. This DNA evidence, together with information from original reports and living witness statements, strongly supported the Sheriff’s Office conclusion to refer a count of First-degree Intentional Homicide to the Winnebago County District Attorney’s Office.
Doxtator passed away in 2022.
Comments