Wis. man found guilty of killing woman whose body was found in swamp in 1986

GREEN BAY, Wis. (TCD) -- A Brown County judge found a 67-year-old man guilty last week of killing a 22-year-old woman whose body was found in a swamp almost 40 years ago.

According to the Green Bay Press-Gazette, Lou Archie Griffin entered a plea of no contest Friday, Jan. 27, to homicide by reckless conduct, after he was initially charged with first-degree murder and two counts of intentional homicide for the death of 22-year-old Lisa Holstead. A Brown County judge found him guilty following the plea.

Holstead’s death was reportedly Brown County’s oldest unsolved homicide until now.

Green Bay Police arrested Griffin Oct. 28, 2020, at his home in Racine.

Holstead was found dead in a swamp at Ken Eures Nature Park on Aug. 12, 1986.

Detectives were reportedly able to solve the case using DNA forensic technology. Green Bay Police Detective David Graf said at the time of Griffin’s arrest that he submitted a DNA sample of the suspect to a lab, which helped create a profile and "family tree in reverse," and that ultimately led to Griffin’s arrest.

The night Holstead died, she and her boyfriend reportedly had a fight, and she got out of his car to walk back to his apartment. She was sexually assaulted and strangled to death before she could make it back to her boyfriend's home, the Green Bay Press-Gazette reports. 

This isn't Griffin's first arrest or brush with the law. In 1981, Griffin was convicted of child sexual assault and was released on parole in May 1986.

Detectives eventually linked Griffin to Holstead’s death using DNA from a cigarette and beer can, which matched DNA from semen found at the scene.

Griffin will be sentenced March 27.

MORE:

• Brown County cold case from 1986 ends Friday with a no contest plea by Racine man linked to case by DNA test - Green Bay Press-Gazette
• GREEN BAY POLICE ANNOUNCE ARREST IN COLD-CASE HOMICIDE OF LISA HOLSTEAD, MURDERED IN GREEN BAY IN 1986, 10/29/2020 - Green Bay Police Department
• Green Bay cold case update, 11/2/2020 - WLUK-TV
• Forensic genealogy led to Racine man's arrest in 1986 homicide of Lisa Holstead of Green Bay, 11/2/2020 - Green Bay Press-Gazette