Man found guilty of killing wife who went missing in 2013

Listen to this article

GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — A jury late Saturday night convicted a Wisconsin man accused of killing his wife who went missing in 2013 and whose body has never been found.

James Prokopovitz, 75, was charged in 2019 with murder and three other counts for allegedly killing his wife, Victoria. He was the last person known to have to seen her on April 25, 2013. Her purse, cell phone and ID were all found at her home in Pittsfield.

Victoria Prokopovitz was 59 when she disappeared.

James Prokopovitz did not show much emotion as a judge read the verdict. He is scheduled for sentencing on April 30. He faces life in prison.

Brown County Deputy District Attorney Wendy Lemkuil had focused her closing arguments on Prokopovitz’s demeanor after his wife disappeared and his inconsistent statements to investigators. She noted he didn’t join in some of the searches near their home in Pittsfield, about 15 miles northwest of Green Bay.

Prokopovitz’s attorney, John D’Angelo, did not call any witnesses or allow his client to testify. He called the state’s evidence circumstantial and said it’s a missing person case not a homicide.

Judge William Atkinson commended jurors for the way they handled “a great burden that we threw upon” them.