KENOSHA — Nearly 50 years after Ralph Gianoli was found murdered in his Kenosha home — his family finally has an answer.
The Kenosha Police Department announced Tuesday the arrest of 68-year-old James Terry Fowler in connection with the 1977 homicide, cracking the cold case using DNA technology that simply did not exist when the crime was committed.
On September 7, 1977, officers responded to Gianoli's home on 25th Avenue after a friend found him deceased. The scene showed signs of a violent struggle — blood spatter, broken bottles, and overturned furniture. An autopsy determined Gianoli died from asphyxiation by strangulation with blunt force trauma to the head and abdomen. He was 48 years old.
Detectives exhausted every lead available at the time but could not establish probable cause to arrest a suspect. The case went cold for decades.
Watch: Nearly 50 years later, DNA evidence leads to arrest in 1977 Kenosha murder
In 2022 — detectives partnered with the FBI and the Wisconsin Department of Justice to apply advanced DNA technology to fingernail clippings collected from Gianoli at the time of his autopsy. In 2025, the Wisconsin State Crime Lab confirmed the DNA was consistent with Fowler at a probability of one in 296 trillion of a random match to an unrelated individual.
Military records revealed Fowler had completed Naval recruit training at Great Lakes —just 20 miles from Gianoli's home — just five days before the murder.
He was 19-years-old at the time. Background research also revealed Fowler was convicted of killing his own father in Alabama in 1983.
On March 30, 2026 — detectives arrested Fowler at his Memphis Tennessee home. He is currently in custody awaiting extradition to Kenosha.
For Carla Gianoli-Smith — Ralph's niece — the moment was overwhelming.
"To say that we are overwhelmed is an understatement — and overjoyed with the news," Gianoli-Smith said. "Bittersweet that my dad and uncle Ralph's other siblings didn't live long enough to see this. I thank God for generations of answered prayers."
Kenosha Police Chief Patton said the arrest sends a clear message.
"No victim is forgotten and no cases are truly closed until justice is served, whether the crime occurred yesterday or decades ago," Patton said.
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