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Crime, Law and Justice
Estelle Timar-Wilcox
Updated:

Minnesota man arrested in 1974 homicide cold case in western Wisconsin

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Law enforcement officials arrested a Minnesota man Thursday in connection with a 50-year-old homicide cold case in western Wisconsin. 

Jon Keith Miller, 84, of Owatonna was charged Thursday in Dunn County in connection with the killing of 25-year-old Mary Schlais of Minneapolis. Miller is awaiting extradition to Wisconsin.

Court records show Miller faces a charge of first-degree murder.

In February 1974, Schlais was found dead on the side of a road in the town of Spring Brook, between Menomonie and Eau Claire. Authorities said they believe she was hitchhiking from the Twin Cities to Chicago for an art show. Her death was ruled a homicide. 

The Dunn County Sheriff’s Office said investigators attempted to follow multiple leads. A witness saw a possible suspect and that person’s car, and law enforcement agencies found several pieces of evidence. But investigators were not able to identify a suspect and the case went cold.

On Thursday, the sheriff’s office said it identified Miller as a suspect through the use of genetic genealogy. The office worked with a team of experts at Ramapo College in New Jersey to trace genetic evidence. 

Court documents said that when investigators met with Miller in Owatonna on Thursday, they showed him the DNA evidence and he allegedly “admitted that he picked up the victim while she was hitching and eventually stabbed her to death.”