CHILTON, Wis–A Calumet County judge throws out criminal charges against a Chilton man accused of hiding a cold case murder victim’s body. Prosecutors had charged John Andrews with Hiding a Corpse late last year after the body of Starkie Swenson was found by hikers in High Cliff State Park.
Swenson went missing in 1983 and Andrews pleaded “no contest” to a reduced charge of Homicide by Negligent Operation of a Vehicle in 1994. He served two years in prison.
The state tried to argue that because Andrews was asked by investigators in June of last year to reveal the location of Swenson’s body but claimed not to know, that would be another incident of “hiding the corpse”.
But Judge Carey Reed ruled on Wednesday that did not constitute a “new crime” and found that the six year statute of limitations had run out.
