Door County, Wisconsin (WPBN/WGTU) – Richard Pierce, who was convicted in 2022 of murdering his wife Carol Jean in 1975, has died in prison.

Pierce was indicted in Wisconsin in 2018.

As part of the investigation, detectives were brought to Pierce’s property in Cheboygan County following his arrest.

Police used construction materials dig up property and deconstructed the house to look for Carol Jean’s remains, but her body was never found.

Pierce was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison plus three years for his death.

Pierce, 86, Door County Clerk of Court, died in jail on Oct. 24. Confirmed to WLUK.

He is scheduled to return to court Dec. 3 for a post-conviction motion, arguing he did not receive a fair trial.

Investigators said the couple was planning to move from Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, to Cheboygan around the time Carol Jean Pierce disappeared.

Richard Pierce claims his wife left him, but prosecutors say he told different versions of the story to various people.

Prosecutors said Richard Pierce received, after Carol Jean Pierce’s death, “a pension unblocked by his wife, most of the important possessions of their marriage, land and a house in Michigan, a new girlfriend weeks after Carol Jean’s disappearance, and a He also said that he was benefiting from the benefits of marriage. Carol Jean’s silence.”