Kris Zocco trial: Medical examiner testifies no cause of death determined for Kelly Dwyer



MILWAUKEE -- Monday, Oct. 1 marked the start of the second week of the trial of Kris Zocco, charged in the death of Kelly Dwyer. Dwyer disappeared in October 2013 -- last seen on camera entering Zocco's apartment on Milwaukee's east side. Her body was found 19 months later in Jefferson County. The man who found her body testified Monday.

Zocco faces three charges in the death of Kelly Dwyer -- first degree reckless homicide, hiding a corpse, strangulation and suffocation, filed in May of 2017. Additionally, he faces one count of felony intimidation of a witness, after Zocco's former cellmate told police Zocco tried to arrange a "hit" on an ex-girlfriend.

Kelly Dwyer, Kris Zocco



The man who found Dwyer's body told the jury Monday he was walking and thought he saw a deer in thick brush, but something didn't seem right, so he went to get a neighbor.



"I walked with him to the spot he found bones. I confirmed with him they were not an animal's. They were human," the man said.

The neighbors contacted the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office about the skeletal remains. Those who live in the area said there were a number of auctions, bringing many people to the area around the time the body was discovered. The Jefferson County medical examiner ordered not only a medical examination, but an anthropological examination of the remains.



"Was it ultimately your conclusion after the autopsy and forensic anthropological analysis that you were unable to determine a cause of death?" the medical examiner was asked in court.

"Correct," the medical examiner said.

Kelly Dwyer's body found in Jefferson County



Zocco's lawyer made the point that there's no evidence that Dwyer was killed, and no evidence pointing to how her body ended up in rural Jefferson County.

Testimony is expected to last through the week.

Meanwhile, Zocco is already serving 19 years in prison on unrelated drug and child pornography convictions.