Thread: WI Suspect linked to Schneller homicide through DNA

Update: Police: Suspect linked to Schneller homicide through DNA
Wausau Daily Herald • May 12, 2009



A suspect is in the custody of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services in Dodge County in connection with the homicide of high school student, Breanna Schneller in Wausau.

Raul Ponce-Rocha, 22, has been in custody since last Wednesday in connection with the brutal May 2 slaying of Schneller at her apartment.

Ponce-Rocha is expected to be brought to Marathon County to make an initial appearance in circuit court tomorrow afternoon on a first-degree intentional homicide charge, Marathon County Assistant District Attorney Theresa Merriwether said at a press conference this afternoon.

Schneller was beaten and stabbed multiple times, Wausau Police Chief Jeff Hardel said. Schneller, an 18-year-old D.C. Everest Senior High School senior, was found dead inside a west-side apartment she shared with her fiance and his brother. The motive for her death is unclear at this time.

Two knives were recovered from inside the apartment, police said.

Preliminary DNA results received Monday from the state Crime Lab link Ponce-Rocha to the crime, Hardel said. Ponce-Rocha’s DNA was found inside a pair of mis-matched gloves that were found by police in a dumpster outside of El Tequila Salsa, the Rib Mountain restaurant where Ponce-Rocha, Schneller’s fiance, Sebastian Ramirez, 22; Ramirez’s brother, Hugo, 19, all worked, Hardel said. The gloves, two pairs of Schneller’s underwear, and her cell phone were found in a bag inside the dumpster, police said.

Ponce-Rocha admitted to being in the parking lot of Schneller’s apartment to pick up a co-worker during the time of the murder, but denied his involvement in her death, Hardel said.

Ponce-Rocha was interviewed last Wednesday as detectives questioned employees of El Tequila Salsa. When Ponce-Rocha acted deceptively and gave inaccurate and misleading answers, investigators turned their focus on him, called federal authorities and had an immigration hold placed on him, Hardel said.

Though Ponce-Rocha is an illegal immigrant, Hardel said, police do not have the authority to arrest an illegal immigrant unless they have been linked to or committed a crime. Federal law enforcement officials have that authority, he said.

Hugo Ramirez left the apartment at 10:10 a.m. to go to work at El Tequila Salsa and Schneller was alone and alive at that time, police said. Ponce-Rocha left El Tequila Salsa at 10:20 a.m. to pick up a co-worker in the apartment parking lot. He returned to work at 10:57 a.m., Hardel said.

It is during that 37-minute window that police think Ponce-Rocha killed Schneller.

The Ramirez brothers were both working at the time of Schneller’s death, but Hardel refused to absolutely clear them of being involved. Investigators have not ruled out that another person was involved in Schneller’s death.

Ponce-Rocha had been charged in April with battery and disorderly conduct, but both charges were dismissed, according to Wisconsin circuit court records online. The only other charges listed for that name were for traffic offenses.

He had been arrested on suspicion of drunken driving in February in Wausau, according to city police reports, but no related charges appear in the state’s online court records. Police reports from that arrest and court records from the battery charge list Ponce-Rocha’s address as Kickbusch Street in Wausau.

The Daily Herald will update this report as more details become available.

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22-year-old man held in teen slaying
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Tuesday, May 12, 2009 6:45 PM CDT


WAUSAU, Wis. - A 22-year-old restaurant worker was accused Tuesday of killing a high school student found slain in her Wausau apartment.

Raul Ponce-Rocha was charged with first-degree intentional homicide in the slaying May 2 of 18-year-old Breanna Schneller. Police said he denied involvement.

Marathon County Assistant District Attorney Theresa Merriwether said Ponce-Rocha, an illegal immigrant being held in Dodge County by federal immigration authorities, is expected to make his first court appearance Wednesday.

Police Chief Jeff Hardel said Schneller was beaten and stabbed multiple times.

Hardel said Ponce-Rocha's DNA was found inside a pair of mismatched gloves recovered by police in a Dumpster outside of El Tequila Salsa, the restaurant where he worked with Schneller's fiancee and brother. The gloves, two pairs of Schneller's underwear and her cell phone were found in a bag inside the garbage bin, Hardel said.

Ponce-Rocha became a suspect when he acted deceptively and gave inaccurate and misleading answers during an interview last Wednesday, Hardel said. Investigators called federal authorities and had an immigration hold placed on him.

According to Hardel, Ponce-Rocha left El Tequila Salsa at 10:20 a.m. May 2 to pick up a co-worker in the parking lot of the apartment where Schneller lived. He returned to work at 10:57 a.m., Hardel said.

It is during that 37-minute period that police think Ponce-Rocha killed Schneller. Two knives were recovered in the apartment, investigators said.

Hardel said Ponce-Rocha acknowledged being in the parking lot of Schneller's apartment but denied his involvement in her death.

El Tequila Salsa owner Rogelio Romano said Ponce-Rocha had worked at the restaurant since it opened in September and was at work the day Schneller was killed.

"That day, it was on the news, and his eyes were watering like the other waiters," Romano said. "He helped that night, he was very helpful. There were no signs. When someone does something like that, they're nervous. He wasn't."

Information from: Wausau Daily Herald, http://www.wausaudailyherald.com

A service of the Associated Press(AP)
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