STURGEON BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) A man accused of killing his wife 45 years will go to trial next year.
A four-week jury trial is now scheduled for April 13, 2021, for Richard Pierce, the man accused of first-degree murder and disinterment of the dead for the death of Carol Jean Pierce in 1975. Her body has never been found.
Pierce, 84,was arrested in October 2018 in Michigan, where he lived. Police have extensively searched the property, but have not said if they have found any remains.
The court originally suggested a July 20, 2021, trial date, but Door County Asst. District Attorney Nicholas Grode noted the defendant’s age, and the age of some of the witnesses, and asked for an earlier date.
The trial will be held Tuesday through Friday on those four weeks. Jury selection will be held March 31 and April 1.
The next hearing in the case will be July 15, when the judge is expected to rule on several motions.
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 has been no new evidence, but current prosecutors decided to move forward with the charges.
