(KPD Case File)
KENOSHA, Wis. — Nearly 49 years after Ralph Ambrose Gianoli was found beaten and strangled to death inside his home at 5310 25th Ave., police say they have finally arrested a suspect in one of the city’s oldest unsolved homicide cases.
Shelby County, TN Sheriff’s Office
The Kenosha Police Department announced Monday that James Terry Fowler, 68, was arrested in Memphis, Tennessee, on a charge of first-degree homicide in connection with Gianoli’s death.
Gianoli, 48, was found dead Sept. 7, 1977, inside his home in the 5300 block of 25th Avenue. At the time, police said Gianoli had been badly beaten and strangled with an electrical cord. He was found nude, with the cord still around his neck.
(KPD Crime Scene Photo)
An autopsy later determined that Gianoli died from blunt force trauma to the head and abdomen.
Investigators at the time found signs of a violent struggle inside the home. Blood was reportedly located in both the bedroom and living room, broken beer bottles were found inside the residence and blood was also found on the outside of the front door.
Police believed Gianoli may have been killed sometime between Sept. 5 and Sept. 7, 1977.
(Kenosha County Mapping)
(Cell Phone Photo by Kevin Mathewson, Kenosha County Eye)
(Kenosha County Mapping)
A friend who discovered Gianoli’s body had reportedly last seen him two days earlier at an uptown tavern. Neighbors also told police they heard a car door slam and a vehicle leave the area quickly the night of Sept. 6.
Gianoli worked at American Motors in Department 821 and had originally been from La Crosse. His brother, Louis F. Gianoli, was, at the time, the Marathon County Sheriff. Family members remained in contact with investigators for years as they continued pushing for answers in the case.
(Cell Phone Photo by Kevin Mathewson, Kenosha County Eye)
Gianoli’s life was also later memorialized in the book “Together as Brothers,” which details his military service and family history. The book helped preserve Gianoli’s story beyond the cold case itself and offered a glimpse into the life he lived before his killing.
After all original leads were exhausted, the homicide remained unsolved for decades.
The Kenosha Police Department Cold Case Unit reopened the case in October 2021. Detectives reviewed the original case file, interviewed previous investigators, identified and interviewed new potential suspects and reexamined evidence that had been retained from the original investigation.
In 2022, Kenosha detectives partnered with the Wisconsin Department of Justice Division of Criminal Investigation, the FBI and other agencies to use advanced evidence-processing techniques. Police said those efforts eventually led to the identification of a suspect in July 2024.
According to investigators, detectives located valuable evidence during their review of the case. That evidence was further processed and ultimately led investigators to Fowler, who was later interviewed.
Police said probable cause was established to arrest Fowler, and Kenosha detectives worked with local authorities in Tennessee to take him into custody Monday in Memphis.
The arrest comes nearly 49 years after Gianoli’s death and marks a major development in one of Kenosha’s most haunting cold cases.
The Kenosha Police Department thanked numerous agencies for their assistance in the investigation, including the Wisconsin Department of Justice Division of Criminal Investigation, FBI, Wisconsin State Crime Laboratory, Marion County Sheriff’s Office in Oregon, Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, Memphis Police Department, Brevard County Sheriff’s Office in Florida, City of La Crosse Police Department and Huntsville Police Department in Alabama.
14 Responses
Thank you for the article.
A couple corrections. “Louis” is the correct spelling and he was not well known in Kenosha; he was, at the time, the Marathon County Sheriff.
Thanks
Thank you very much for the corrections! I would love to speak if you are ever willing. 847-924-7285
Nice piece of work, Detective Cepress!
Certainly excellent detective work, after a 46 year time elapse. Question is where was the lapsed detective deduction and mishandling of evidence in 1977? The facts reported: a naked body of a 48 year old man who was at a bar prior and a suspect that in 1977 was age 20 is a pretty clear scenario in which the unfortunate late Mr. Gianoli discovered that the young Mr. Goodbar whom he invited into his house turned out to be stick of dynamite that exploded the wrong way.
Maybe let’s not write the poor guy off as a pervert until we know better.
Nothing further “to know better” is required with crystal clear empirical evidence of the crime scene description.
Wow,amazing good job.
I don’t trust these guys at all. Too much tech for them to use on us “common folk”
Sounds like you got something to hide
Yeah no kidding!
Did you know that the federal government can try and convict you as long as two people say the exact same thing? Guilty or innocent. It’s called hearsay evidence. They’ll charge you and have no proof. People are doing decades behind bars for something inmates call ghost dope. No evidence. So it doesn’t matter if you have something to hide or not. Look it up. Title 21, pick your subsection.
Yea, that’s a very strange comment Mr Common Folk. Hope you never need the tech in a bad situation.
I guess there really is justice, even in the Kenosha Courts and DP after all. Thank God.
Good job Timmy! A naked victim….hmmm…sounds like SCU needs to be involved! Now the prosecution could be the hard part. How many people are still around from 1977 to be witnesses? Sounds like a strict case of DNA and circumstances to me. If the jury buys into the forensic stuff you’ve got a win. If not…..at least you probably got some good OT out of it!