Man Charged With Murder Nearly 40 Years After Student Found Decapitated

A Wisconsin man was recently charged with murder nearly 40 years after a college student was found decapitated.

Michael Raymond Popp of Tomah was arrested Monday on one count of first-degree murder in the 1985 killing of Terry Dolowy. He faces life in prison if convicted of the killing.

Dolowy was a 24-year-old senior at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. She was originally from River Forest, Illinois. Her decapitated and burning body was found in a roadside culvert in Vernon County five days after she vanished from her home in La Crosse County on February 14, 1985.

Prosecutors said Popp, who was 21 years old at the time of the murder, knew Dolowy. He had lived near Dolowy’s Barre Mills home, where she lived with her fiancé Russell Lee, at the time of her murder, according to a criminal complaint filed Tuesday in Vernon County Circuit Court.

The complaint states that Popp told law enforcement in March 1985 that he, his girlfriend, Dolowy and Lee would attend pool tournaments together, adding that they were often pool partners.

In January 2023, there was a crack in the case. DNA samples taken from Popp matched material found in Dolowy’s autopsy, the complaint states.

Popp initially characterized Dolowy as a casual acquaintance. However, when authorities presented him with the DNA evidence in March 2023, he said he and Dolowy “maybe had a little affair” for six to eight months, according to the complaint.

The murder suspect said he previously lied because “it’s a pretty serious case,” and he did not “want to be associated with it,” the complaint states.

Popp denied killing Dolowy, telling law enforcement that he is not a violent person, according to the complaint.

When Popp’s ex-girlfriend was interviewed by police in 1987, she was asked if Popp could have committed Dolowy’s murder, La Crosse Tribune reported.

She reportedly replied, “Mike is capable of doing something like this because he has a lot of different personalities.” However, she said she didn’t believe he was involved, according to La Crosse Tribune.

Popp’s girlfriend broke up with him in 1986 when she filed a court injunction against him for physical abuse, La Crosse Tribune reported.

The now-60-year-old suspect is being held at the Vernon County Jail, and his cash bail is set to $1 million. He has not retained a lawyer as of Wednesday morning, the Vernon County Clerk’s Office told The Associated Press.

“We got it done,” Vernon County sheriff Roy Torgerson said on Tuesday when announcing the arrest and charges. “I am so grateful to the men and women of law enforcement who carried the torch.”

This article includes reporting from The Associated Press.