UPDATE: 2/8 at 9:54 am
WAUPACA, Wis. (AP) -- A Wisconsin judge has denied bail for an Oklahoma man charged with a 1990 sexual assault and considered a person of interest in a 1992 double murder.
Forty-one-year-old Glendon Gouker appeared in Waupaca County Circuit Court Thursday on a charge of first-degree sexual assault. He's accused of sexually assaulting a then-20-year-old woman in November 1990 in Iola.
The break in the case came in 2011, when DNA evidence was resubmitted to the state crime lab for analysis as part of an ongoing investigation into the 1992 fatal stabbings of 23-year-old Tanna Togstad and 35-year-old Tim Mumbrue. State investigators say Gouker was found to be a contributor to the DNA.
Waupaca County Sheriff Brad Hardel says Gouker is a "person of interest" in the homicides.
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ORIGINAL STORY: 2/4 at 9:20 am
As part of a joint, cold case investigation into a 1992 double homicide, Waupaca County Sheriff Brad Hardel and Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen announce the arrest of a former Wisconsin man, 41-year-old Glendon Gouker, on a charge of First Degree Sexual Assault for an incident occurring on November 5, 1990.
A news conference with Sheriff Brad Hardel is scheduled for noon Monday at the Waupaca County Courthouse, located at 811 Harding St., in Waupaca.
According to the Criminal Complaint, on the evening of November 5, 1990, the suspect, while wearing a mask, forcefully took a 20-year-old woman to Taylor Field Park in the Village of Iola, where he had sexual contact with her, against her will, and threatened her. Gouker said to the victim, according to the complaint, “I’m just doing my job; I got paid to do this.”
A September 2011 report from the Wisconsin State Crime Lab on DNA analysis of evidence re-submitted to the Lab from the sexual assault evidence collection kit indicates Gouker as a contributor to DNA found in the kit.
Gouker, who’s currently incarcerated in Oklahoma and awaiting trial, has been charged in Waupaca County with one count of First Degree Sexual Assault -- Concealing Identity, a felony. An initial appearance in Waupaca County is scheduled for February 7, 2013.
The Waupaca County Sheriff’s Department and the Department of Justice (DOJ) – Division of Criminal Investigation (DCI) continue to actively investigate and seek information in the March 22, 1992, double homicide of 23-year-old Tanna Togstad and 35-year-old Tim Mumbrue. Togstad, who also was sexually assaulted, and Mumbrue were stabbed to death in Togstad’s farmhouse.
Gouker has been identified as a person of interest in this homicide investigation; however, investigators believe there are individuals still residing in the area with knowledge about this crime. Waupaca County Crime Stoppers will have a billboard located along Highway 10 outside of Waupaca, to encourage people with information to come forward. An image of the billboard is available here.
“The killer, or killers, of this couple left evidence behind when they entered Togstad’s home and savagely murdered the victims. We’re now looking to the community for tips to help us identify a match to the DNA left at the crime scene,” Sheriff Hardel said. “With advances in DNA technology, we hope to bring justice for the families of these two young people.”
Anyone with information about this case should contact the Waupaca County Sheriff’s Department at (715) 258-4466, or the Division of Criminal Investigation at (608) 266-1671.
Click here to view the criminal complaint.
