Day two of Muskego cold case murder trial

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WAUKESHA (CBS 58) -- The Muskego man accused of killing his wife 40 years ago was in court for day two of his trial. 

The state brought up multiple people to testify including two of John Bayerl's ex-wives, a Crime Lab analyst, and former and current investigators on the case. 

In 1979, John Bayerl stated that Dona Mae stormed out of their home after an argument, and had not been seen since. Dona Mae never returned home. Family and friends of Dona Mae Bayerl were adamant that she would never leave her daughters, and they feared something happened to her. John Bayerl waited three days to report the disappearance to police.

According to three former Muskego police officers, they saw spots of what appeared to be blood in the garage when the responded to the home in May of 1979.

“There was a crime scene at that garage," said David Wolfgram, a former officer.

In 2018, the blood sample was compared to DNA from a baby book, believed to be Dona Mae's DNA.

"To find someone else with that same profile at those same exact locations you would need to look at roughly 12 billion people to find that same exact profile," said Ronald Witucki, crime lab analyst.

In court, John's two ex-wives also shared there were violent moments during their marriages. 

"He slammed me into the wall, I need to get out of the situation," said Linda, ex-wife about one situation. 

Following all of the state's testimonies, the defense argued the state didn't have enough evidence to convict John Bayerl for murder.

The defense did not call up any witnesses. 

Closing statements will start at 8:30 on Wednesday. 





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