VIROQUA, Wis. – After nearly 40 years investigators say they now have DNA evidence the ties 61-year-old Michael Popp of Tomah to the disappearance and death of Terry Dolowy in 1985. Popp was arrested in September and charged with her murder. Today, Popp pleaded not guilty to that charge in Vernon County Court and the case will likely go to trial sometime in the next year, unless a plea deal is reached in the case.
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Tomah man accused of 1985 murder of Terry Dolowy held over for trial in Vernon County
Dec. 11, 2024
Dolowy went missing from a Barre Mills trailer home on Feb. 14 of 1985, and her body was found decapitated and on fire on Feb. 19 along Mohawk Valley Road in Vernon County. Her case had gone unsolved until investigators made a DNA match between semen found during an autopsy of Dolowy’s body and Michael Popp in September of 2023. Popp was questioned numerous times about his relationship with Dolowy over the years and authorities arrested him in Sept. of 2024 and charged him with Dolowy’s murder.
You can read our previous story about Dolowy’s disappearance and the investigation here.
On Friday, Dec. 13, Popp appeared in Vernon County Circuit Court in person with his attorneys Todd Schroeder and Jennifer Lough for a preliminary hearing. The purpose of the hearing was to determine if there was enough evidence on the charges to move forward with a trial.
Special Prosecutor Kevin Chroninger called only one witness and that was Lindsay Lehr, an investigator with the Wisconsin Department of Justice Division of Criminal Investigation (DCI). Lehr testified to the timeline of the DNA evidence collection, the match to Popp, and the interviews with him as the timeline unfolded.
According to the criminal complaint, in February of 1985 an autopsy was conducted and a vaginal smear from that autopsy was kept under the possession of the Wisconsin State Crime Laboratory and the Vernon County Sheriff’s Office.
On June 1, 2022, the Wisconsin State Crime Laboratory developed an STR (shorttandem repeat) profile was developed from semen identified from the vaginal smear taken from Dolowy. This STR profile was submitted for further analysis through Investigative Genealogy (IG).
On September 23, 2022, it was determined the person of interest, Michael R. Popp, was a match by the Investigative Genealogy testing of the original vaginal smear that was obtained from the autopsy conducted on February 19, 1985.
In January 2023, DNA taken of Michael Raymond Popp was tested by the Wisconsin State Crime Lab and was confirmed to be a match to the smear taken during the autopsy.
Lehr testified that DNA experts were consulted, and they told investigators seminal fluid could last up to five days in the vaginal cavity. Chroninger also asked Lehr if Popp had changed his story about the nature of his relationship with Dolowy and she said he had. Lehr said originally Popp testified he had did have a sexual relationship with Dolowy and then later when confronted with the DNA evidence told her he “might have had an affair” with Dolowy. Chroninger, through Lehr’s testimony, pointed out that since the evidence showed the semen collected must have been the result of sexual contact with Dolowy between her disappearance on Feb. 14 and the discovery of her body on Feb. 19, Popp must have had contact with her after her disappearance.
Defense attorney Jennifer Lough pressed Lehr on cross examination about the five-day window for semen viability. Lehr agreed that one expert said the window for DNA viability could be five to seven days rather than three to five days. Lough also established in questioning Lehr that the autopsy did not give a cause of death.
“We don’t know if it was drug overdose or accidental fall?”
“No,” said Lehr.
“So given that we don’t know how she died, we don’t who would have been responsible for her death?”
“Correct,” said Lehr.
“So, we don’t know if the victim was strangled or if she was shot?”
On cross examination of Lehr, Chroninger pointed out that Dolowy had been decapitated and her body set on fire, and it appeared someone was trying to destroy evidence.
Following Lehr’s testimony Chroninger asked that Judge Mark Goodman hold Popp over for trial based on the DNA evidence establishing his contact with Dolowy after she disappeared, his shifting stories about the nature of their relationship and his familiarity with the area where her body was found.
“The defense raised some issues about, well, geez, couldn’t this have been a drug overdose?” said Chroninger. “People don’t cut off someone’s head and burn them and throw them in the ditch if they die of a drug overdose. Or if someone dies in an accident. If someone falls off a ladder, hits their head and dies, someone doesn’t cut off their head and throw them in a ditch and start them on fire. And so I think the evidence, certainly for the level of problem and cause, demonstrates that the demise of Ms. Dolowy was not an accident.”
Attorney Lough argued that the state had not established probable cause for Popp to face trial since the expert advice in the case stated the window for viable semen testing was five to seven days and the only evidence was that Popp and the victim had a casual sexual relationship. Lough also pointed out that there was no cause of death established and therefore they could not establish who killed Dolowy.
Judge Goodman ruled there was enough evidence in his judgement to show probable cause to go to trial. Goodman said the state did not need to establish evidence that Popp was responsible for Dolowy’s death beyond a reasonable doubt, but that there was probable cause to go to trial. Goodman ordered that Popp remain in custody and a $1 million cash bond to remain in place.
Popp also faces charges in Monroe County in a separate unrelated case. In that case Popp was charged with felony counts of stalking/domestic abuse and threatening to communicate derogatory information and misdemeanor counts of obstructing an officer, possession of cocaine and possession of marijuana.
According to the criminal complaint in that case, police interviewed the victim of the alleged sextortion attempt on Sept. 20. She told police that she broke off a relationship with Popp and then learned he had captured private nude photographs of her without her consent.
You can read our previous story about that case here.
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