How Betty Rolf's cold fall is to solve the crimes

Little Chute (NBC 26)-Exactly one year ago, Gene Meyer was convicted of Betty Rolf in a decades of Murder, a small slide woman who was killed more than 30 years ago.

The case broke new ground for investigators – reopened through DNA technology.

We take a closer look at how Betty's story describes the game book to solve cold covers.

Mindy Tempelis, District Prosecutor of Outagamie County:
“One of the greatest findings for us was how important the team is and how much greater the team must be in these cases,” says Mindy Tempelis, district lawyer of Outagamie County, who worked exactly on the case.

The solving of Betty Rolf's case meant returning to the past. The prosecutors had to dive through old evidence, combine again with a changed community … and build up faded memories.

It took forensics, external experts and even help from the FBI to make a crime from 1988 for a jury in 2024.

“This teamwork is very important to ensure that you have both a successful examination and successful law enforcement,” said Tempelis.

In the end they got it. Gene Meyer was convicted and sentenced to life in prison.

But in addition to justice for Betty, her case gave the investigators something bigger: a blueprint.

“Hopefully other investigators can use these lessons to improve the investigation and cases that they look at and hopefully secure successful law enforcement measures,” added the district prosecutor Templeis.

At the Wisconsin Association of Mord Investigators Convention in Kohler in April, Betty Rolf's case was the focus and set a new standard for solving cold cases. Mindy Tempelis, district prosecutor of Outagamie County, and her team shared their investigative strategy with hundreds of investigators. The biggest snack?

“Finding an investigator who is persistent and willing to try something new. This is not the way you examine cases.” After the investigative game book develops even faster with the help of AI.

“We can absorb and record hundreds of hours of videos and that for weapons, instead of signing in several sources,” said a representative of Vertione, a private company that used AI technology that can:

• Reduce hours from interviews and video
• Flags keywords, faces and objects
• Translate
• Even recognize voice tone and emotions

“You could import all this data and search for what you are looking for,” he added.
It is a player, especially now if detectives not only compare paper files, but also terabytes of digital evidence from bodycams, social media and security material.

What used to take years can move faster now.

And bring answers to families who are still waiting for justice.

“We want to create opportunities for other jurisdiction to solve these cases for the victims of their community who have no answers,” said Templis.

“And if we can inspire other investigators and prosecutors in cases in which they go back and evaluate, that would be amazing. And if it can achieve justice, we are here.”

However, AI is used in Wisconsin dishes – but only limited.

The Supreme Court of the state has founded a committee to examine how it could be used in the future.