MARINETTE COUNTY (NBC26) — The jury trial for an Oconto County man accused of a 45-year-old double murder is set to begin Monday in Marinette County.
Investigators previously said genetic genealogy connects Raymond Vannieuwenhoven, 84, to the shooting deaths of a Green Bay couple in 1976 at a Wisconsin park.
Vannieuwenhoven is accused of killing David Schuldes, 25, and his fiance, Ellen Matheys, 24, during a camping trip at McClintock Park in Silver Cliff.
Reports show Schuldes was shot in the neck and died instantly. Matheys was sexually assaulted and shot twice in the chest. People found her body about 200 yards from her fiance.
DNA evidence from the sexual assault was gathered and submitted, but years went by without a hit.
In May 2018, the Marinette County Sheriff's Office worked with Virginia-based Parabon NanoLabs, a DNA technology company, in an effort to solve the cold case.
The lab eventually identified Vannieuwenhoven's family tree. Investigators said tests of Vannieuwenhoven's DNA from a licked envelope matched DNA collected at the crime scene.
Vannieuwenhoven pleaded not guilty to the murders in July 2019. He's facing two counts of first-degree murder and one count of first-degree sexual assault.
Online court documents show the trial is set to start Monday and is expected to last about two weeks.
