Wisconsin man gets death in Fla. double murder

By: Associated Press//February 29, 2012//

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BUSHNELL, Fla. (AP) — A Wisconsin man is headed to Florida’s death row after a judge ruled he should die by lethal injection for killing a woman and her daughter 12 years ago.

Circuit Judge William H. Hallman III handed down the sentence Tuesday against 36-year-old Bill Paul Marquardt, who represented himself during his capital murder trial.

The Orlando Sentinel reports investigators spent years searching for the suspect in the murders of Margarita Ruiz and Experanza Wells. Jon Thiesen, a prosecutor in Chippewa County, Wis., finally made the connection using DNA evidence found on Marquardt’s knife.

Thiesen started researching blood samples on the knife after a Wisconsin jury acquitted Marquardt of killing his mother. Knowing Marquardt went to Florida after his mother’s death, Thiesen researched double murders and found the Sumter County case.

Information from: Orlando Sentinel, http://www.orlandosentinel.com

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