Genealogist assists in 1976 double murder case

MARINETTE, Wis. (AP) -- Criminal charges have been filed in northeastern Wisconsin in a 1976 double slaying and sexual assault after a genealogist used DNA to narrow the list of possible suspects.

Eighty-two-year-old Raymand Vannieuwenhoven is charged in Marinette County with first-degree murder in the deaths of 25-year-old David Schuldes and 24-year-old Ellen Matheys at a park in Silver Cliff. Prosecutors have also charged Vannieuwenhoven with sexually assaulting Matheys.

WLUK-TV reports investigators over the years have tried to find DNA matches in the cold case and last year contacted a lab in Virginia. A criminal complaint says a genealogist was able to narrow down a suspect pool to a specific family in northeastern Wisconsin. Investigators say they secretly collected DNA from several brothers in the family, including Raymand Vannieuwenhoven and he was a match.