Trial Recap

Ponce-Roche Convicted

Raul Ponce Rocha is accused of murdering 18 year old Breanna Schneller on May 2, 2009, but his attorneys say the wrong man is on trial.

Ponce Rocha took the witness stand Tuesday and told the jury that he last saw Breanna Schneller with a man named Sergio Juarez.

Wednesday, the defense called 3 witnesses who testified that Juarez lived in Wausau in 2009 and was an aquaintance of Ponce Rocha.

One of those witnesses, Juarez's ex-girlfriend Whitney Mason, told the jury Juarez was acting strangely in the days after May 2, 2009 and had a large scratch on his neck.

"He was covering his neck, he wouldn't look at me with a straight face, he wouldn't make any eye contact", said Mason.

Shortly after that testimony, the defense closed their case and turned it over to the State for a rebutal.

The State called Saul Simental Cruz to the stand, who works for a tax preparation company in Madison.

Cruz testified that Sergio Juarez was in Madison on the day of Schneller's death, working on his tax return.

He brought Juarez's tax documents to prove it.

Cruz told the jury it typically takes 45 minutes to go over tax forms with clients and that it takes about 2 and a half hours to drive from Wausau to Madison.

The state believes Breanna Schneller was killed sometime around 10:30a.m. and 11:00 a.m.

It will be up to the jury to decide whether they believe that Sergio Juarez is a factor in this case or not.

Juarez will not testify, it's believed he is living back in Mexico.