Man convicted of 1993 Wisconsin Rapids stabbing death argues for new trial

WISCONSIN RAPIDS − A 51-year-old man convicted of stabbing a 25-year-old woman to death and slashing her throat in 1993 returned to Wood County Circuit Court this week to ask for a new trial.

Todd D. Frost was 22 when a jury found him guilty of first-degree homicide and now retired Wood County Circuit Judge Edward Zappen Jr. sentenced him to life in prison almost 29 years ago. Frost was 21 when someone killed Francine Weaver, a Wisconsin Rapids woman who worked as a waitress.

On Tuesday and Wednesday, Monroe County Circuit Judge Richard Radcliffe, acting as a substitute judge in the Wood County case, listened to evidence presented by Frost's attorney, Cole D. Ruby, and Wood County District Attorney Craig Lambert about DNA evidence presented during the 1994 trial.

A roommate found Weaver lying naked on her bed April 1, 1993. An autopsy determined someone had stabbed Weaver 41 times and slashed her throat, according to court documents.

During Frost's trial, witnesses said they had seen Frost and Weaver walking together the night she died. Frost told authorities he walked home with Weaver to talk to her.

In 2015, the Wisconsin Innocence Project, a nonprofit group started by two University of Wisconsin-Madison professors to help prisoners who have been wrongfully convicted, assisted Frost in his attempt to have his conviction overturned. At that time, it was believed evidence from the case, including a yellow blanket from Weaver's bed, had been destroyed. An Innocence Project intern later located some of the missing evidence, including the blanket.

In 2016, Frost sent a letter to Dr. Karl Reich, a molecular biologist and DNA analyst who is the lab director and managing partner of an independent laboratory in suburban Chicago, asking for help. Reich testified Tuesday he often gets letters from inmates requesting help.

Reich said Frost's description of what happened during his 1994 trial concerned him, so he sent for the transcripts of the trial. Reich said the transcripts matched Frost's story of how testimony about DNA evidence was presented.

Reich said evidence found in fluid samples taken from Weaver indicated Frost could not have been the source of semen found in the samples. He said the DNA analyst from the Wisconsin State Crime Lab should have told jurors that the sample eliminated Frost as a source.

Reich also testified that an analyst from the FBI overstated the results of a blood sample found on the blanket. The analyst used the word "match" when testifying and that gave the wrong impression to jurors, Reich said. The analyst also said that there was a one in 20 million chance that someone else would have matched the sample, but the numbers don't make sense, Reich said.

Testing was done on stains found on the blanket that weren't tested prior to Frost's trial. A semen stain on the blanket was found to match another Wisconsin Rapids resident. Wisconsin Rapids Police Detective Eric Daven testified that he talked to the man whose DNA was found twice, once on April 19 and again on May 24.

Daven said during the first conversation, the man didn't remember ever being in the apartment Weaver shared with a roommate. During the second conversation, the man said he had driven by the apartment building and remembered having gone there for an after-bar party. The man said Weaver and her roommate had frequent parties.

Retired Wisconsin Crime Lab DNA Analyst Sherry Culhane took the stand and testified to her work done on the case and her testimony at Frost's trial. Culhane described testing the samples from Weaver and the blood samples from the blanket.

Ruby asked Culhane why she never tested the semen stains on the blanket. Culhane said she wasn't asked to look for those stains. She said she had been instructed to test the blood on the blanket. The Crime Lab has to prioritize items and could not test every stain on every piece of evidence that comes in, Culhane said.

Allen Giusti, a current FBI DNA analyst, took the stand for the prosecution on Wednesday. Giusti explained how DNA testing has changed since 1994. The type of testing used on the DNA samples from the fluids and blood prior to the trial were reliable and done properly, Giusti said. He said the type of tests used gave a more detailed result than the current tests, which replaced the old tests in 2002. However, the old tests couldn't be magnified the way the current tests are used, Giusti said.

The old tests took much longer, and it could take a month to get the results, Giusti said. The newer tests can be done in a few hours. The old tests also needed much more matter than the new tests. The new tests can get DNA from a smoked cigarette, something the old tests could never do, Giusti said.

Radcliffe said the complexity of the testimony given during the two days would make it impossible for him to give an educated decision right away. He asked Lambert and Ruby to each submit arguments answering specific questions on how previous court decisions affect this case and whether Frost should get a new trial.

Radcliffe is expected to issue a decision on the case in April.

Contact Karen Madden at 715-345-2245 or kmadden@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter at @KMadden715, Instagram at @kmadden715 or Facebook at facebook.com/karen.madden.33.

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This article originally appeared on Wisconsin Rapids Daily Tribune: Todd Frost argues for new trial in 1993 Wisconsin Rapids stabbing death