The murder of Carol Jean Pierce
Sturgeon Bay, Door County, Wisconsin · 1975
Overview
Carol Jean Pierce, 35, was last seen in September 1975 at the trailer home she shared in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, with her husband Richard Pierce, a sailor on the Coast Guard cutter Mesquite. He told people she had "taken off," gave police different accounts of when she left and how much money she took, and did not report her missing for 82 days. A neighbor later saw that her purse, her record collection, her cat and her makeup were still in the trailer. Pierce moved to Cheboygan, Michigan, and had a new girlfriend within weeks. No body was ever found, and for 43 years no one was charged. In September 2018 the Wisconsin Cold Case Review Team looked at the file, and on October 11, 2018 Pierce, 82, was arrested in Cheboygan and charged with first-degree murder and disinterment of the dead. In April 2022 a Door County jury convicted him on both counts after about ten hours of deliberation, and in August 2022 he was sentenced to life in prison. He died in prison in October 2024, aged 88, with an appeal still pending.
How it was solved
There was no confession, no forensic breakthrough and no body. The case was solved by a reinvestigation that put together what witnesses and records had been saying for decades. In September 1975 Richard Pierce told associates his wife had "taken off," and he then gave police differing accounts of when she left and how much money she took. In 1982 the Sturgeon Bay police chief noted problems in Pierce's account: a thousand dollars would not fit the envelope he described, and the phone book he said he had used to call Green Bay hospitals listed none. Over four decades, investigators gathered statements from neighbors and shipmates that, according to the criminal complaint, described an unhappy marriage and a wife who feared her husband. Investigators searched Pierce's Michigan home in 2008 and found a filled cut in a crawl-space floor, but no remains. On September 21, 2018, the Wisconsin Cold Case Review Team looked at the case and concluded there was enough to show that Pierce was set to gain from his wife's disappearance. Cold case detectives with the Wisconsin Association of Homicide Investigators then filed a twenty-page complaint, which the Associated Press described as mostly circumstantial. Pierce was arrested on October 11, 2018. On October 12 a human-remains detection dog indicated six times in his house, though no remains were ever recovered. At trial in April 2022 prosecutors argued that Carol Jean's letters to her family showed she had no plan of leaving, that records showed no trace of her since 1975, and that Pierce had gained her property and a new girlfriend. The defense argued there was no body, no cause of death and no proof she was dead. The jury convicted Pierce of first-degree murder and disinterment of the dead, and in August 2022 he was sentenced to life. WBAY reported that it was the first conviction in Wisconsin made without a body.
Sources
- Arrest made in 43-year-old Sturgeon Bay cold case
“Richard Pierce previously claimed that she walked out on him. But cold case detectives with the Wisconsin Association of Homicide Investigators allege in a criminal complaint that Pierce had the opportunity and motivation to kill her.”
- Man pleads not guilty in death of wife over 40 years ago
“Carol Jean was last seen in September 1975, according to a criminal complaint, Richard returned to his ship, the USCGC Mesquite on September 6th after a night at home.”
- Court orders $1 million bond for man charged in 1975 murder (November 2, 2018)
“On Sept. 21, 2018, the Wisconsin Cold Case Review Team looked at the case and concluded there was enough to show Richard Pierce was set to gain from Carol Jean's disappearance.”
- Man pleads not guilty to murder of wife in 1975 (April 19, 2019)
“He pleaded not guilty to charges of 1st Degree Murder and Disinterment of Dead.”
- Trial underway for Michigan man accused of killing wife in Wisconsin in 1975
“Fellow shipmates and friends have said that although Carol Jean was talking about retiring in northern Michigan, Richard was speaking about their marriage being shakey.”
- Testimony underway in Door County cold case murder trial (April 19, 2022)
“The prosecution and defense delivered their opening statements Tuesday.”
- Door County jury finds Richard Pierce guilty of 1975 murder of wife Carol Jean (April 29, 2022)
“After about 10 hours of deliberation Thursday and Friday, a jury returned a verdict of guilty on counts of 1st Degree Murder and Disinterment of Dead.”
- Life sentence given to Michigan man in 43-year-old Sturgeon Bay cold case
“On August 5, Pierce was sentenced to life in prison after a jury returned a verdict of guilty on both counts.”
- Door County man convicted in cold case murder of wife wants new trial (September 16, 2024)
“It was the first conviction in the state to be made without a body and now Pierce’s defense attorney argues the 88-year-old didn’t get a fair trial.”
- Judge denies Richard Pierce’s murder appeal at postmortem hearing (December 3, 2024)
“Pierce died in prison in October. He was convicted of killing his then-wife, Carol Jean Pierce, in 1975. He was in the midst of an appeal process when he died.”
- Dead man’s appeal in Door County murder case moves forward (February 2, 2026)
“The man convicted in the case, Richard Pierce, died in prison in 2024 at age 88.”