WI WI - Victoria Prokopovitz, 59, Pittsfield, 25 April 2013 *Guilty*

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My method proved right, as I told Marsha her mother's husband did it day 1. So glad hes been arrested finally, now for the trial or he could if he wished to, avoid a trial by confessing and relieve the family once and for all. That would be the least he could do imo. Pointing to her remains would be something he also could do.
 
BROWN COUNTY, Wis. (WBAY) - A judge has ordered a $2 million cash bond for a Brown County man arrested on charges related to the death of his missing wife.

Victoria+Prokopovitz+photo+in+frame.jpg

WBAY Photo

James Prokopovitz, 73, was arrested Wednesday on charges of 1st Degree Intentional Homicide and Perjury. He made his first appearance before a Brown County judge Thursday. He does not qualify for a public defender.
...

Charges have been forwarded to the Brown County District Attorney's Office. The judge gave prosecutors until May 22 to file a criminal complaint.

The court has sealed the probable cause affidavit.

Under Wisconsin law, Perjury is defined as when someone under oath makes a false statement which the person does not believe to be true. Prosecutors revealed in court Thursday that they held a John Doe hearing with James Prokopovitz and Kathryn Friday Wednesday, and both suspects admitted that they had lied.

Read more: $2 million bond set for husband accused of missing wife's murder
 
For those who know Marsha or follow the FB page she has for her mother I ask that everyone please hold off on questions or remarks about the case specifically.

She has been a huge advocate for so many missing persons cases and has brought so much awareness especially to everyone who is missing from WI but this information is not the way she was hoping to find her mother.

I ask everyone also please remember that there are many innocent family members who have been caught in the middle of this nightmare. I hope soon they are able to bring Vicki home and lay her to rest properly and peacefully.
 
It is because of Marsha that he was arrested. I told her 6 years ago to keep on LE so they would know shes watching them, she won't let them forget about her mother. I know Vicki is very proud of her.

IMO, Marsha knew this was going to be what happened when her mother went missing without even her cigarettes. Vicki smoked a lot. The longer Vicki wasnt found, the more of a reality that he killed her. Marsha has been very active with missing people, she knows people don't just vanish.

I hope LE told her before they announced it. I'd hate to find out that she learned about it like we did.

These are my own words, not hers. I haven't spoken to her in years because ice been so busy.

I'm praying he tells where she is so she can be buried so that her family has somewhere to visit her.
 
BROWN COUNTY, Wis. (WBAY) - A Brown County man has been charged with 1st Degree Intentional Homicide in the death of missing wife Victoria Prokopovitz.

James Prokopovitz, 73, has also been charged with Perjury and Resisting or Obstructing an Officer.

The 1st Degree Intentional Homicide charge comes with a Domestic Abuse modifier.

More at "She is dead": Criminal complaint reveals new details in Prokopovitz investigation
 
Family was made aware before it put out in the media.
Roselvr said:
It is because of Marsha that he was arrested. I told her 6 years ago to keep on LE so they would know shes watching them, she won't let them forget about her mother. I know Vicki is very proud of her.

IMO, Marsha knew this was going to be what happened when her mother went missing without even her cigarettes. Vicki smoked a lot. The longer Vicki wasnt found, the more of a reality that he killed her. Marsha has been very active with missing people, she knows people don't just vanish.

I hope LE told her before they announced it. I'd hate to find out that she learned about it like we did.

These are my own words, not hers. I haven't spoken to her in years because ice been so busy.

I'm praying he tells where she is so she can be buried so that her family has somewhere to visit her.
Click to expand...
 
GuyfromCanada said:
BROWN COUNTY, Wis. (WBAY) - A Brown County man has been charged with 1st Degree Intentional Homicide in the death of missing wife Victoria Prokopovitz.

James Prokopovitz, 73, has also been charged with Perjury and Resisting or Obstructing an Officer.

The 1st Degree Intentional Homicide charge comes with a Domestic Abuse modifier.

More at "She is dead": Criminal complaint reveals new details in Prokopovitz investigation
Click to expand...

Sounds like hes trying to pin it on his girlfriend.


bbbd4u said:
Family was made aware before it put out in the media.
Click to expand...

Thanks. Very relieved to hear that
 
Prokopovitz trial set for October, 7 years after wife’s disappearance

A man accused of killing his wife who disappeared in 2013 is headed for trial next month.

The Brown County Circuit Court set aside two weeks for James Prokopovitz’s trial starting October 12 at a status hearing on Tuesday.

The court told both sides to present any motions, witness lists, and proposed jury instructions by October 5, with jury selection scheduled for October 9.

James Prokopovitz, 75, is charged with first-degree intentional homicide with a domestic abuse modifier, carrying a mandatory life prison sentence if he’s found guilty. He’s also charged with perjury before a court and resisting or obstructing an officer.
 
Man accused of killing wife pleads not guilty to new perjury charges

A week before James Prokopovitz is scheduled to go on trial for allegedly killing his wife - even though her body has never been found - prosecutors added more charges against him.

Victoria Prokopovitz disappeared in 2013. James Prokopovitz was charged with her murder in May 2019.

Prokopovitz already faces four charges: first-degree intentional homicide, obstruction, perjury and conspiracy to commit perjury. The perjury counts related to testimony at secret John Doe hearing, which was used as an investigative tool in the case. The two additional counts are additional perjury counts from the same hearing.

Prokopovitz pleaded not guilty Friday to the two new counts.

Jury selection is scheduled to start next Friday. Opening statements for the trial, which is scheduled to last two weeks, would be Feb. 15.

Judge Timothy Hinkfuss said a total of 15 jurors will be selected to hear the case, as a protection against losing jurors for health reasons. At the conclusion of the trial, 12 will be selected to deliberate.

James Prokopovitz was the last person to see his wife on April 25th, 2013. Investigators say Victoria was reported missing, but her purse, cell phone and ID were all at her home in Pittsfield.

Also charged in case was Prokopovitz’ girlfriend, Kathryn Friday. However, she died before she could be sentenced for lying to a John Doe hearing called during the investigation.
 
Trial set to begin in 2013 disappearance of Victoria Prokopovitz

Victoria Prokopovitz of Pittsfield disappeared almost eight years ago. Her body has never been found and she is believed to be dead.

On Monday, her husband is scheduled to stand trial, accused of first-degree intentional homicide.

James M. Prokopovitz, 75, will face a jury trial next week for his involvement in the disappearance of his wife. The trial is scheduled to begin Monday and last two weeks. Jury selection is set for Friday morning.
 
On April 25, 2013, Victoria Prokopovitz disappeared from the Pittsfield home she shared with her husband, James.

The next day, James Prokopovitz called the Brown County Sheriff’s Office to report his wife missing. He told them that she suffered from depression and he was afraid that she had taken her own life somewhere near the home. James told investigators that he saw his wife at 10 p.m. the night before. He said that’s the time he went to bed.

James Prokopvotiz said once he believed her to be missing, he “panicked” and went out searching for his wife. He said Victoria had left behind her cell phone, cigarettes, purse and identification.

James Prokopovitz went to work that day, April 26, but never told his co-workers that his wife was missing, according to a criminal complaint. Co-workers said he acted no differently than usual.

The Prokopovitz house is located on a rural farm property with numerous outbuildings. A K-9 searched the property to no avail. There were no shoe prints in the soil, meaning Victoria could not have walked from her home the night of her disappearance.

Family and friends have said James never helped in the searches for Victoria and “became hostile at times.”

Victoria’s daughter, Marsha, recalled a time that James said of Victoria, “She is dead. She is nowhere around here. She is never coming back.”

Family members told investigators about their increasing suspicion that James Prokopovitz was involved in their mother’s disappearance. James continued to make comments that Victoria was gone and they were “wasting their time” searching for her.

Just weeks after Victoria disappeared, James announced that he had started a romantic relationship with an old girlfriend named Kathy Friday. Investigators wondered if the relationship was part of the motive behind Victoria’s disappearance. One witness said James had told Kathy that he knew his wife was dead. A witness said Kathy got a second phone for the purpose of communicating with James.

Records found that James and Victoria had some financial issues, including unpaid medical bills and a foreclosure. Investigators found that James had taken Victoria off his family medical and dental insurance on August 28, 2013--a few months after Victoria went missing. He converted his insurance from family to individual.

James admitted that he had access to a sludge pond between his home and his place of work. The sludge pond contains industrial waste and “products that are “unstable” in nature. It would be very hard to search.

During a John Doe hearing, James Prokopovitz said that he didn’t know where Victoria’s body was and “if I could s--t my wife’s body out in order to protect Kathy [Friday], I would.”

Prokopovitz initially said he went to sleep at about 10 p.m. on the night Victoria disappeared. However, his bed was “meticulously made and did not appear slept in,” according to investigators. During the John Doe hearing, he changed his story and said he had slept in his recliner in the living room.

Investigators questioned James about the route he said he took during his panicked search for Victoria. Surveillance video from a gas station on his search route did not show James’ vehicle passing during that time.
Jury selection Friday for man charged with killing missing wife
 
James Prokopovitz admitted to killing his wife, but later took back his confession
In a secret John Doe hearing, James Prokopovitz said he killed his wife but later recanted the statement, according to prosecutors.

He said he knew of a sludge pond near their home and said he had access to the pond. It contained industrial waste and is hard to search. He told investigators that if a body were dumped there, it would never be found.
Trial set to begin in 2013 disappearance of Victoria Prokopovitz
 
Both sides presented their opening arguments Monday in Brown County Circuit Court before a jury of six men and nine women who were selected on Friday. Three of the jurors are alternates due to COVID-19 reasons. The alternates will be determined before jury deliberations begin.

Brown County Circuit Court Judge Timothy Hinkfuss is presiding over the case. James Prokopovitz appeared in person for the first day of his trial.


In his opening statements, Brown County Assistant District Attorney Caleb Saunders detailed James Prokopovitz's behavior after his wife went missing, noting that:

  • He kept going to work like normal.
  • He told Victoria's daughter Marsha the weekend after her mother disappeared that he was going "to get a U-Haul to come and get this s--- out of the house," Saunders said.
  • During searches in the weeks after Victoria Prokopovitz disappeared, searchers said Prokopovitz told them they were wasting their time and they would never find her. He would get angry as searches continued, Saunders said.
  • He would often be found sitting in his recliner drinking beer while other family members were out looking for Victoria.
Trial underway for James Prokopovitz in disappearance of his wife Victoria in 2013

Wisconsin man on trial for murder; victim's body never found
 
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Just found out about this case seconds ago. Lifelong Wisconsin resident here. And I always follow no-body cases. I might have to watch this. Is L&C streaming it?
 
On Thursday, witnesses were scheduled to take the stand on Day 4 of the two-week trial. However, Judge Timothy Hinkfuss was not at the bench. Brown County Judge Marc Hammer announced Hinkfuss had broken his ankle and required surgery.

The trial is set to resume on the morning of Monday, Feb. 22. That means no testimony on Thursday or Friday.
Missing woman murder trial delayed after judge breaks ankle
 
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