MENOMONIE, Wis. — Officials plan to provide another update on Monday a break last week in a 50-year-old cold case murder in Wisconsin, this time involving a member of the victim’s family.
Authorities on Thursday charged 84-year-old Jon Miller of Owatonna, Minnesota with first-degree murder in the slaying of Maria Schlais. Schlais was hitchhiking from Minneapolis to Chicago when she was found dead in Dunn County, Wisconsin, on February 15, 1974.
The Dunn County Sheriff’s Office said it will hold a news conference Monday at 1 p.m. with a representative of Schlais’ family, as well as someone from Ramapo College, whose genetics lab led police to Miller.
How to watch
- What: Authorities provide an update on the 1974 murder of Mary Schlais in which Jon Miller is accused
- Where: Dunn County Sheriff’s Office, Menomonie, Wis.
- When: Monday, November 11, 1 p.m
- Watch: You can watch live on CBS News Minnesota, on Pluto TV or in the player above
Decades after the murder, authorities linked a DNA profile from a hair found at the crime scene to Miller through family members. According to a criminal complaint, Miller admitted to stabbing Schlais and dumping her body in a snowbank in Spring Brook.
Miller is in custody in Minnesota, awaiting extradition to Wisconsin.
