MARINETTE, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – Raymand Vannieuwenhoven, 85, who was serving two life prison terms for the 1976 murder of a couple at a Marinette County park, has died.
Although the murders of Ellen Mathys and David Schuldes at McClintock County Park happened in 1976, Vannieuwenhoven wasn’t charged in the case until March 2019, after DNA samples matched him to the case. He was convicted after a trial last July. Vannieuwenhoven denied involvement in the deaths, and was appealing the conviction.
State court records include an entry Wednesday noting the status has changed, listing him as deceased.
The Wisconsin Dept. of Corrections said Vannieuwenhoven died June 17 in the long-term care unit at Oshkosh Correctional Institution.
The murders of Schuldes and Matheys were unsolved for more than four decades. In 2019, a DNA sample from evidence at the crime scene was determined to be from a particular family. After samples tested from Vannieuwenhoven’s brothers weren’t a match, a sample from him — obtained from a licked envelope for a survey on a phony police performance filled out by Raymand — was a match, according to the complaint.
Before the trial, the defense attempted to have evidence introduced allowing it point the finger at two other possible suspects in the case. His attorneys’ attempt to appeal the issue before the trial – where they noted Vannieuwenhoven might not live long enough for the appeals process afterwards to play out – was denied. It was again the subject of an appeal, but the case was months away from a decision.
FOX 11 was unable to locate an obituary or any funeral arrangements.
