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WAUSAU, Wis. (WSAU) -- It took almost six months to catch the suspect now charged with sexually assaulting two women after a Weston party. 32-year-old Willie Suttle made an initial appearance in court Monday on two counts of 4th degree sexual assault and one charge of sexual assault of an unconscious victim.
Marathon County Assistant District Attorney Lisa Gramer says victims and law enforcement spent a long time getting the suspect’s name so they could find him. “It was hard at first to identify him. The victims only knew him by a nickname, “The Chemist.” Through research on Facebook and Twitter and things like that, he was identified as Willie Suttle, but until then, it was hard to figure out who it was.”
Gramer says investigators are checking social media like Facebook for clues to crimes, but it sometimes leads to dead ends because people open fake accounts or use false names online. She says they finally did get a match. “One victim did have a picture of him that she had taken that night, and then to see his pictures on Facebook and Twitter, they matched up quite well, but I do believe it’s a tool that more law enforcement and district attorney’s offices are using throughout the state.:
The prosecutor believes the evidence is strong enough to get a conviction against Suttle. “We do have DNA evidence that the defendant, at least for one of the victims, we found sperm on her cervix, so we do believe we have a strong case here for the second-degree as well as the two fourth-degree charges.
Suttle will be back in court March 19th at 10:00 a.m. for a preliminary hearing before Judge Jill Falstad. Bond was set at $5,000 cash. If he gets out, Suttle is to have no contact with the victims.
(Listen to our interview with Assistant District Attorney Lisa Gramer on our website, here.)