Man convicted in decades-long Door County case dies

DOOR COUNTY (NBC 26) — The Michigan man convicted of murdering his wife in 2022 in Door County has died.

Richard G. Pierce passed away last month at the Dodge Correctional Facility, according to the Wisconsin Department of Corrections.

pierce was accused By killing his wife, Carol Jean Pierce, in 2018.

The couple married in 1966. Pierce was a sailor in the U.S. Coast Guard based in Sturgeon Bay when Carol Jean disappeared in 1975.

In April 2022, Pierce was convicted of first-degree murder and exhumation. HE was sentenced He was sentenced to life in prison for first degree murder.

The charges were based largely on witness testimony; Several witnesses said Pierce appeared unhappy in his marriage to Carol Jean.

A neighbor said Carol Jean told her at least three times that she thought Richard was going to kill her and that she wanted to go somewhere where no one could find him.

Another said Carol Jean told her Pierce had beaten her the night before and left her face bruised.

At the time, Pierce’s former shipmates told authorities that Carol Jean did not trust Pierce. One of his shipmates recalled how the ship’s captain’s wife died, and Pierce commented: “That was a pretty good deal. (The captain) got rid of his wife.”

Carol Jean Pierce’s body was never found. NBC 26 reached out to Richard G. Pierce’s brother, but he declined to be interviewed.