RACINE – After 37 years, police in Racine may be closer to cracking a cold case involving a woman found dead in the trunk of her car.
28-year-old Derby Wagner-Richardson never came home from her job as a security guard at Styberg Engineering on the night not March 22nd, 1987. Around 1:30am, Racine police discovered her body in the back of her car, throat and wrists slashed with tape over her mouth.
Despite evidence of a struggle, and long-standing suspicions that Derby’s estranged husband Fred Wagner-Richardson was involved, police had no evidence connecting him to the case.
“It’s not like a case I would present today with hours of video and surveillance cameras,” said Racine County District Attorney Patricia Hanson.
But after new charges against him for illegal possession of firearms, authorities were able to re-open the case.
“While the case is circumstantial, certainly there are a lot of pieces to this puzzle.”
“The department extends our heartfelt gratitude to all the officers involved spanning four decades, aimed at bringing justice for Derby Wagner-Richardson” said Racine Police Chief Alexander Ramirez Thursday. “To the family…we hope the arrest of Fred Wagner-Richardson brings some closure to this tragedy.”
Fred Wagner-Richardson faces multiple charges and is currently out on a $50,000 bond, with a preliminary court date set for April 10th.
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