Gene Meyer found guilty on murder & sexual assault charges from 1988 cold case
APPLETON, Wis. (WFRV) – A verdict has been reached in the decades-long cold case of first-degree murder and first-degree sexual assault of 60-year-old Betty Rolf.
After just under three hours of jury deliberations, 68-year-old Gene Meyer was found guilty on both charges, bringing the 35-year-old cold case nearly to a close.
Investigators say that Rolf was killed by Meyer, who was 32 at the time, on her walk to work and died of injuries consistent with blunt force trauma to the head and strangulation. Her body was found in 1988 along Spencer Street, partially unclothed with her broken purse strap around her neck.
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According to the criminal complaint, Meyer was linked to Rolf through DNA testing after the case was reopened in 2019 with advancements in testing. He was found living in a trailer on someone else’s property in Olympia, Washington, where prosecutors say he fled after murdering Rolf.
Gene Meyer faces a life sentence for the murder charge and an additional 60 years for the sexual assault charge. His sentencing date is scheduled for early July.
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