Cold case cracked: Winnebago investigators ID killer in 1963 stabbing of Wayne Pratt

OSHKOSH — Advances in DNA testing have matched crime-scene evidence to a primary suspect in the 1963 robbery and murder of gas station owner and operator Wayne Pratt.

The Winnebago County Sheriff's Office on Tuesday identified the probable killer as William A. Doxtator of Bowler, Wisconsin. Doxtator was investigated as a suspect in the case just days after Pratt was murdered.

Winnebago County District Attorney Eric Sparr reviewed the investigative files of the case and supported the conclusion of the sheriff's office, but Doxtator died in 2022 at age 86, so no charges will be filed.

"I agree there would be sufficient evidence to support a factual basis and probable cause to pursue a homicide charge if William Doxtator were alive today," Sparr said. "The District Attorney's Office commends the Winnebago County Sheriff's Office for its ongoing investment in this case over a long period of time, showing dedication to securing some sense of finality and resolution for the families impacted."

Detective Lt. Chris Braman said Pratt's wife, Marie, died last year without knowing who killed her husband 61 years ago.

"I felt really bad," Braman told The Post-Crescent, "because she was constantly trying to get more information and see where we were at" in the investigation.

Braman reported in 2022 that investigators had ample DNA evidence in the case but that it was a mixture of DNA from multiple contributors that was difficult to isolate.

"What got us to where we're at now was the combination of two private labs and our own Wisconsin State Crime Lab working together, using information from each lab to get the final product," Braman said. "It's been quite the journey."

The Pratt murder was highlighted by The Post-Crescent in an August 2022 report detailing more than 25 unsolved deaths or disappearances where investigators suspected foul play.

Since that report, at least two other cases have had breakthroughs.

• In Outagamie County, Gene Meyer, 68, was convicted of the 1988 murder of Betty Rolf after a one-week trial in May. A familial DNA search identified Meyer as the primary suspect. He was sentenced to life in prison with eligibility for parole after 34 years, plus a consecutive 20 years in prison on a sexual assault charge.
• In Waupaca County, Tony G. Haase, 53, was charged with the 1992 murders of Tanna Togstad and Timothy Mumbrue, who were found dead of stab wounds in Togstad's home in Royalton. The case is scheduled for a jury trial next year.

What happened to Wayne Pratt 61 years ago?

Pratt, 24, was found slain on June 12, 1963, in the storage area of the former Enco Service Station he operated along the north side of U.S. 41 (now Interstate 41) just east of U.S. 45 (now State 76) between Neenah and Oshkosh.

His wife told authorities that they had been watching television in their nearby home when a white car pulled up to the gas station about 8:40 p.m. Pratt walked to the station — a distance of roughly 50 feet — to attend to the customer.

About 15 minutes later, his wife noticed the exterior station lights hadn't been turned on. She went to the station and found Pratt lying face down on the floor in a storage room and partially covered with a blanket. He was dead, the victim of a vicious attack in which he was stabbed 53 times.

Pratt's wife notified authorities at 9 p.m. A manhunt ensued, but no one was arrested.

An undetermined amount of money was taken from the station. Pratt sustained wounds to his back, neck and head. Evidence at the scene suggested the attacker was bleeding as well.

"The evidence has always suggested that Wayne Pratt put up a fight, that he was trying to ward off his attacker," Braman said. "He had defensive wounds. There was multiple blood types found on scene."

Investigators disclosed in 2015 that all 53 stab wounds weren't inflicted during a single attack. Evidence showed Pratt was covered with a blanket after an initial attack and was trying to crawl away when he was stabbed again through the blanket.

"For the amount of violence there was, it seemed over the top for a normal robbery," Braman said.

The Post-Crescent reported that more than 75 people were questioned by police, and 25 were given lie detector tests. All who took the tests were cleared.

The multiple attacks, the level of violence and the presence of the blanket on Pratt's body suggested that the assailant was known to Pratt, authorities said.

Sheriff's department takes renewed look at the case

The Pratt case fell relatively inactive before it was reopened in 2011 by Braman.

Detectives conducted additional interviews and submitted blood-stained evidence to the Wisconsin State Crime Lab for analysis.

"At that time, degraded DNA, older DNA, even genetic genealogy stuff was not really a thing," Braman said, "so we didn't get a lot of information then."

In July 2015, Pratt's body was exhumed from the Oak Hill Cemetery in Neenah for a second autopsy. DNA samples taken during the procedure were submitted for testing at public and private labs, but the results proved inconclusive.

Though the DNA testing didn't immediately crack the case, Winnebago County investigators openly hoped advances in forensic science eventually would provide answers.

"Who's to say that in the next five to 10 years that something might develop (in terms of enhanced testing procedures)," Capt. David Mack told The Post-Crescent in 2018. "It's amazing how rapidly it changes."

Doxtator denied killing Pratt but acknowledged visiting gas station

Braman interviewed Doxtator in 2018. Doxtator told him that he knew Pratt and considered him a friend, but he denied killing Pratt.

“He never denied that he went to that gas station frequently,” Braman said. “He told me he was there the day of or the day before this happened."

Braman said Little Chute police contacted the sheriff's office a day or two after the murder to report that Doxtator showed up to pay a fine in cash.

"They thought it was weird that he had all this cash on him," Braman said. "He was on parole for breaking and entering at that point. And then he was driving a car that was similar to what had gone out as a vehicle description" in the Pratt case.

Technological advances provide breakthrough

In 2018, authorities secured a warrant to obtain DNA from Doxtator, based on new information developed a year earlier. Investigators also had received tips on Doxtator in 1968 and 2009, in addition to the information from Little Chute police in 1963.

Doxtator wasn't the only suspect to provide DNA for the investigation.

In 2023, Sorenson Forensics , a private lab in Draper, Utah, identified DNA mixtures in the case. Then earlier this year Cybergenetics Inc. , a private lab in Pittsburgh, use its TrueAllele data analysis to decipher the DNA mixture and determine that Doxtator's DNA was statistically present on the blanket that had been used to cover Pratt.

"In the last couple years, we've had some luck," Braman said. "The science has improved, and there were some things that have become court-tested that have been available to us."

The DNA evidence, together with the investigative file and statements from living witnesses, supported charging Doxtator with homicide, authorities said.

The sheriff's office thanked the Wisconsin State Crime Lab, Sorenson Forensics and Cybergenetics for their analyses of the DNA evidence.

In addition, the sheriff's office thanked the late Andy Thompson, a long-time reporter and editor at The Post-Crescent, "for his contributions and assistance with this case. His dedication was invaluable."

Contact Duke Behnke at 920-993-7176 or dbehnke@gannett.com . Follow him on Twitter at @DukeBehnke .

This article originally appeared on Appleton Post-Crescent: Cold case cracked: Winnebago investigators ID killer in 1963 stabbing of Wayne Pratt