VIROQUA, Wis. – A Tomah man was arraigned for first-degree murder in the 1985 beheading of a woman he knew at the time. Bail for Michael Raymond Popp was set a $1 million by Vernon County Judge Timothy Gaskell. The prosecutor, Kevin Croninger, had asked for $2 milion and called the crime “particularly gruesome.” Popp responded that he couldn’t come up with that kind of money. He went on to quote the criminal complaint against him that listed 4:30 a.m. as the time that Terry Dolowy was killed and repeated his alibi from years earlier: ”I’m still milking cows at 5.” Then he started a tangent about a current stalking charge against him in another county. Judge Gaskell cut him off: “Anyone in your position would be seen as a potential flight risk.” A side note: Judge Gaskell said he would ask that another judge take the case as it moves forward. He noted that he had been involved early in the investigation when he was Vernon County’s district attorney.
Popp. Conviction could mean prison for life.