EATONVILLE, WA (WTAQ-WLUK) — A man living in Washington state has been arrested and charged in a three-decade-old murder in the Fox Valley.
Gene C. Meyer, 66, has been charged with first-degree murder and first-degree sexual assault with use of a dangerous weapon in the 1988 murder of 60-year-old Betty Rolf.
Meyer, who currently lives in Eatonville, Washington, but used to live in Valders, was arrested Wednesday, the Outagamie County Sheriff’s Office says. Meyer is being held at the Pierce County Jail in Tacoma, Washington, awaiting extradition to Wisconsin.
Rolf’s body was found Nov. 7, 1988, in Grand Chute, just outside the Appleton city limits. She had been sexually assaulted, beaten and strangled.
The criminal complaint says investigators used “familial DNA searching” to examine DNA records of people who may be biological relatives of the suspect. Doing so, police determined the only suspects could be Gene Meyer or his brother, identified only by his initials “CM.”
FBI agents tracked down Meyer to Eatonville, where they “were able to acquire DNA swabs from the door handle of the defendant’s Dodge Ram truck. These swabs were sent to the Wisconsin Crime lab for DNA analysis,” the complaint states. “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.”
Law enforcement officials investigate an overpass on W. Spencer Street in Grand Chute Nov. 7, 1988, after discovering the body of Betty Rolf. (WLUK file image)
Wolf’s body was found underneath a bridge of W. Spencer Street, where it crossed the railroad tracks. The autopsy “found evidence of blunt trauma to the head, strangulation by ligature, and multiple skin abrasions,” the complaint states.
In addition to the count of first-degree intentional homicide, Meyer is also charged with sexually assaulting Wolf. Evidence of the assault found on Wolf was used for DNA tests to connect Meyer to the case.
Normally, the statute of limitations would have long since expired, 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, but does not offer details on what crimes or the dates for those cases.
The FBI and Pierce County, Washington, Sheriff’s Department, helped in the investigation.
