Jury starts deliberating in 1976 killing of 63 yo Laura Bruce (Guilty)

[WhiskeyGirl]

Jury starts deliberating in 1976 killing

Ladysmith - A Rusk County jury began deliberating today whether a 65-year-old retired janitor killed a woman 32 years ago by strangling her on railroad tracks during a sexual encounter.

Roy Beaulieu, charged with second-degree murder, did not take the stand in his own defense.

Prosecutors contend Beaulieu strangled 63-year-old Laura Bruce on May 22, 1976, near Ladysmith.

Beaulieu's attorney, Robert Ferg, said medical evidence showed the damage to Bruce's neck was consistent with Beaulieu's account of accidentally falling on her.

An eight-man, four-woman jury began deliberating about 2:20 p.m., according to the clerk of court's office.

Beaulieu was charged after Bruce's body was exhumed at her son's request in 2006 and a forensics expert ruled she had been strangled.

Michael Stier, a forensic pathologist at the State Crime Laboratory in Madison, told the jury that Bruce died from homicidal strangulation caused by compression on her chest and pressure on her neck. When Bruce died, her tongue was sticking out, and strangulation was the most likely of three scenarios in which that happens, Stier said.

According to the criminal complaint, Beaulieu, a 350-pound bachelor who lived with his mother until her death, told investigators that he and Bruce went to a secluded area along some railroad tracks for sex and then argued. He told investigators that he slipped on gravel, fell and struck Bruce in the chin and neck with his arm.

read the rest of the story here -

http://www.jsonline.com/watch/?watch=1&date=8/20/2008&id=45046

WEDNESDAY, Aug. 20, 2008, 3:15 p.m.
By Associated Press
Edit to add info to subject line.  MB

[MuffyBee]

http://www.ladysmithnews.com/full.php?id=4747
Jury finds Beaulieu guilty of murder
By Luke Klink
August 28, 2008

Roy Beaulieu was found guilty of second degree murder last Wednesday by a Rusk County jury.

It was a verdict the family of the victim Laura Bruce had waited 32 years to hear.

“It has gone a long time without being resolved. At least now she can rest in peace, and so can the family,” said the victim’s son Melvin Bruce.

Bruce family members hugged in the courtroom after the jury’s verdict was read aloud by circuit court judge Frederick Henderson.

Seated on the other side of the courtroom, Beaulieu showed no reaction. His court-appointed attorney, Robert Ferg of Eau Claire, said he plans to appeal the verdict.

Beaulieu, 65, was charged two years ago with killing Bruce along a dark railroad track in the city on May 22, 1976. He was considered to be a person of interest at the time the body was found, but a medical autopsy then could not determine the cause of death. He originally told police investigators he discovered the dead body while walking home.

A coroner’s inquest was held June 7, 1976 and ruled: “Our determination is that Laura Luella Bruce came to her death between 2 a.m. and 3:10 a.m. May 22, 1976 from causes or in a manner unknown. We could find no evidence of foul play and recommend that the investigation be continued.”

The cold case was re-opened in 2005 at the Bruce family’s request and the victim’s body was exhumed. The re-investigation using state-of-the-art forensic methods revealed new clues, including a broken hyoid bone in the victim’s neck that state experts testified earlier in the week often is caused by manual strangulation. These new clues — including Beaulieu providing a different version of events leading up to Bruce’s death — resulted in a second degree murder charge against Beaulieu.
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Beaulieu, who pleaded not guilty, faces between five and 25 years in prison. He has been held in the county jail since his preliminary hearing in January 2007.

The state Department of Corrections will now prepare a pre-sentencing investigation report, which will include a recommended sentence for Beaulieu. Judge Frederick Henderson will sentence Beaulieu at a hearing not yet scheduled.

[MuffyBee]

http://ladysmithnews.com/full.php?id=4962
Beaulieu sentenced to 20 years for 1976 murder in Ladysmith
By Luke Klink
November 8, 2008

Roy Beaulieu showed no emotion in a Rusk County courtroom Tuesday when he was sentenced up to 20 years in prison for a murder that happened 32 years ago.

Judge Frederick Henderson could have sentenced Beaulieu to a maximum of 25 years for the 1976 murder of Laura Luella Bruce, who was 63-years-old when she was found dead along a railroad track in Ladysmith.
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A jury found Beaulieu, 65, guilty in August of second-degree murder in the strangulation death of Bruce. A routine medical autopsy performed shortly after death revealed she died of unknown causes. A more extensive forensic autopsy on her exhumed body in 2005 found injuries showing she may have been strangled.

A former janitor at Mount Senario College, Beaulieu was charged two years ago with killing Bruce after the forensic autopsy revealed the additional evidence.

Beaulieu, who pleaded not guilty, faced between five and 25 years in prison. He has been held in the county jail since his preliminary hearing in January 2007. He was sentenced under state laws in effect at the time of the murder, permitting him to begin petitioning for parole in a little more than three years after factoring in the time he has already spent in jail.

Attorney Robert Ferg said his client would appeal. He added the sentence was not surprising due to the nature of the conviction.
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Mel Bruce read from a prepared statement during the sentencing hearing. He called his mother a kind-hearted person who enjoyed spending time with her family. He also noted she had five children, 19 grandchildren, 45 great-grandchildren and 26 great-great-grandchildren. He asked for a maximum sentence.

“When she died, a piece of my heart also died with her,” he said. “All of these people were affected by her death, either by losing her too soon or never getting a chance to get to know her. For all we know, she could still be alive today.”

Beaulieu gave up his right to address the court to relate his side of the story, as he had during the trial.

The state’s pre-sentencing investigation recommended a sentence ranging from 15 to 20 years. Pakes asked for 20 years. Ferg requested eight years.

Pakes noted Beaulieu never expressed remorse at any time during the investigation or trial. She added the defendant, who was 33-years-old at the time of the murder, took advantage of an elderly woman.
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Henderson issued the sentence, noting mostly the moral need for punishment in addition to numerous other factors like lack of remorse and the needs of society.

Beaulieu also was ordered to pay $1,190 restitution to the Bruce family for funeral expenses and a headstone.

[MuffyBee]

http://ladysmithnews.com/full.php?id=5162
YEAR IN REVIEW: Murder trials among top stories for 2008
January 02, 2009

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2. Jury finds Beaulieu guilty of 32-year-old murder



A Rusk County jury found Roy Beaulieu guilty of second degree murder on Aug. 20 after a trial lasting three days.

Beaulieu, now 65, was charged two years ago with killing Laura Luella Bruce along a dark railroad track in Ladysmith on May 22, 1976. He was considered to be a person of interest at the time the body was found, but a medical autopsy then could not determine the cause of death. He originally told police investigators he discovered the dead body while walking home.

A coroner’s inquest was held June 7, 1976 and ruled Bruce died from unknown causes with no evidence of foul play.

The cold case was re-opened in 2005 at the Bruce family’s request and the victim’s body was exhumed. The new investigation using state-of-the-art forensic methods revealed new clues, including a broken hyoid bone in the victim’s neck that state experts testified during the trial often is caused by manual strangulation. These new clues — including Beaulieu providing a different version of events leading up to Bruce’s death — resulted in a second degree murder charge against Beaulieu.

It was a verdict the family of the victim Laura Bruce had waited 32 years to hear. Bruce family members hugged in the courtroom after the jury’s verdict was read aloud by circuit court judge Frederick Henderson.

“It has gone a long time without being resolved. At least now she can rest in peace, and so can the family,” said the victim’s son Melvin Bruce.

Beaulieu, a retired janitor who worked at Mount Senario College, told police last year Bruce’s death happened after she rejected his request for sex along a Ladysmith railroad track. He said she would not comply, and as he tried to get to his feet, he slipped and his knee fell on her ribs and his forearm landed on her chin and neck area to cause her injuries. He was 32-years old at the time. She was 63.

District attorney Kathy Pakes described Bruce’s broken ribs, broken hyoid bone, protruding tongue, witness reports of Beaulieu following Bruce, Beaulieu’s multiple versions of what happened and expert testimony for the state. She said all the pieces of the puzzle fit together to create one picture — death by strangulation.

“This was not an accident,” Pakes said. “Healthy people just don’t die.”

Beaulieu was sentenced Nov. 4 to 20 years in prison with restitution to the Bruce family for funeral expenses.

Defense attorney Robert Ferg pledged to appeal the verdict.
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[MuffyBee]

http://ladysmithnews.com/full.php?id=5965
Pakes awarded D.A. of the year award
June 26, 2009

Kathleen Pakes, Rusk County district attorney, received the State of Wisconsin “Prosecutor of the Year” award at the statewide prosecutor’s conference in Green Lake last week.

A plaque was presented by John Theisen, Chippewa County district attorney, who had nominated Pakes for prosecutor of the year award. “I am proud to present this award to my colleague,” said Theisen. “Many of us (prosecutors) handled major cases last year, but setting Kathy apart was the fact she took two cold-case homicides to trial – the 1976 murder of Laura Bruce, and the 1979 murder of Robert Pfeil, Jr., and got a conviction in each case
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Also speaking was Ladysmith Chief of Police Dean C. Meyer, who approached Pakes about looking into the Pfeil homicide shortly after she took office in January 2001
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Meyer remarked that the 2005 arrests in the Pfeil case prompted the family of Laura Bruce to come forward requesting the Ladysmith Police Department look into the mysterious circumstances of her death in 1976. In 2006 Ms. Bruce’s body was exhumed and sent to the UW Madison Department of Pathology where it was determined she had been strangled. Convicted of her murder was Roy Beaulieu, who reported finding Ms. Bruce’s body and eventually admitted to being with her at the time of her death.

[MuffyBee]

http://ladysmithnews.com/full.php?id=6415
Governor will name new county prosecutor
September 25, 2009

Kathleen Pakes, Rusk County district attorney, has announced she will resign her post effective Jan. 4 of next year.

She said that she will then begin a new career as legal counsel for state Public Defender’s Office in Madison.

Pakes was first elected Rusk County D.A. in 2000 and ran unopposed in her next four elections.
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She was recently recognized as 2009 Prosecutor of the Year by the Wisconsin District Attorneys Association for successfully prosecuting the 1976 murder of Laura Bruce and the 1979 murder of Robert Pfeil, Jr.
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