WISCONSIN RAPIDS, WI (WSAU) – A Port Edwards man, accused in a cold-case murder from 1984, refused to speak at a probable cause hearing in Wood County Court on Wednesday.
A judge entered a not guilty plea on behalf of John Sarver for the death of Eleanor Roberts. The judge also ruled there is enough evidence for the case to move to trial.
The investigating agent, Shane Heiser, told the court that Roberts was discovered in her home. She’d been stabbed with scissors and had suffered blunt-force trauma to the head.
Defense lawyers argued that the victim’s son, Marshall, has since died and cannot be cross-examined. The judge allowed the son’s statement from police interviews as evidence, although it may not be allowed at trial.
Sarver is being held in the Wood County jail on a $1 million bond. His trial date hasn’t been scheduled yet.
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