GREEN BAY (NBC 26) — A man facing criminal charges in a 36-year-old homicide cold case pleaded no contest in court Friday to an amended charge of homicide by reckless conduct, a Class C felony.
Lou Archie Griffin, 67 of Racine, was arrested in 2020 on multiple charges related to the homicide of Lisa Holstead. Holstead’s body was found in a swamp in what is now Ken Eures Nature Park in Green Bay on August 12th, 1986. It was Green Bay's oldest cold case.
Griffin had been charged with first-degree murder prior to Friday's plea agreement. He entered his plea as potential jurors were reporting to court Friday ahead of Monday's expected start of his trial.
Investigators said that at the time of her killing, Griffin lived within a few miles of where her body was found.
Griffin was identified as a suspect in Holstead's slaying after Green Bay police sent DNA evidence found on her body to a company that performs forensic genetic genealogy testing. That testing provided information on the suspect's heritage and possible relatives.
Griffin was eventually placed under police surveillance and DNA that was collected from cigarettes and beer cans he had discarded matched the DNA collected in the murder case, police said. Griffin told investigators he might have had sex with Holstead but denied killing her, police said.
Griffin is scheduled to be sentenced on March 27th. He faces a potential sentence of up to ten years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000.
This post contains content from the Associated Press
