Eatonville man arrested 34 years after murder, sexual assault of Wisconsin woman

Investigators working to solve a decades-old cold case from Wisconsin located and arrested a suspect Wednesday in Eatonville, according to the Outagamie County Sheriff’s Department.

The 66-year-old man, who deputies identified as Gene C. Meyer, was arrested with assistance from Pierce County Sheriff’s Department. He is suspected of beating, sexually assaulting and killing a 60-year-old woman 34 years ago in Appleton, Wisconsin.

According to Appleton’s local newspaper, The Post-Crescent, Meyer has been charged in Outagamie County Circuit Court with first-degree murder and first-degree sexual assault with a weapon. The man was in custody at Pierce County Jail on Friday awaiting extradition to Wisconsin. Jail records show he is held on $2 million bail.

He is accused in the killing of Betty Rolf, who was found dead Nov. 7, 1988 just outside of Appleton, according to a social media post from the Outagamie County Sheriff’s Department. Appleton is about 32 miles southwest of Green Bay, Wisconsin.

The Post-Crescent reported that the day before the victim was found dead, she walked 10 blocks from her home to work during a snowstorm. An autopsy showed she was strangled and beaten. The newspaper wrote that DNA tests completed in 2019 led detectives to Meyer and his brother. Further investigation determined Meyer’s brother wasn’t a suspect.

The Outagamie County Sheriff’s Office thanked the FBI’s cold case team in Milwaukee for help solving the case, and the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department and the FBI’s Seattle office were thanked for helping with the arrest.

According to court records in Pierce County Superior Court, Meyer reported that he has lived at an address in Eatonville for five to six years. Investigators said he formerly lived in Valders, Wisconsin. Meyer has little criminal history but was convicted of burglary in Wisconsin in 1974 and 1976.