Witness testifies to being with defendant at murder victim's home the night of her death

WISCONSIN RAPIDS − A man who grew up in the Nekoosa area took the stand Thursday during the fourth day of the 1984 Saratoga homicide trial and told jurors he was with John Sarver the night Eleanore Roberts was murdered.

Sarver, 59, of Port Edwards, faces a charge of murder for the Nov. 26, 1984, death of Roberts, who was hit over the head, slashed with a kitchen knife and stabbed multiple times with a scissors.

The witness, whose name is being withheld for concerns regarding his safety, said he was drinking and playing pool with Sarver and another man the night Roberts, 73, was killed at her home on Hollywood Drive in Saratoga.

He said the second man had said he was out of money and the witness asked him if he and Sarver would give the witness a ride home. The Daily Tribune is not naming the second man because he has not been charged with a crime.

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The witness said he got into Sarver's truck with Sarver and the other man, but instead of turning toward the witness's house, Sarver turned the opposite direction. Sarver drove to Roberts' home and left the witness in the truck while Sarver and the second man went inside.

The witness said he saw the two go around to the home's side door on the garage end. He didn't know how long they were inside the house, but he said it was a long time and he got cold.

He said he went to the side door, walked down the hallway to the kitchen door and knocked, but the men wouldn't let him in so he returned to the truck. He said he waited until he couldn't handle the cold, then tried to knock on the door again. The witness said he wasn't sure whether it was the second or third time he knocked, but the man did eventually open the door.

The witness said he saw a body covered in blood lying on the floor of the kitchen. He heard Sarver yell from the bathroom to "help him."

"I had no idea what to do," the witness said. "You can't run, so what do you do?"

The witness said he helped the man carry the body into the bathroom and put it in the bathtub.

The witness said Sarver then told him to help clean up the blood in the kitchen. He remembered wiping blood from the front of the refrigerator. He thought Sarver cleaned the bathroom while the other man and the witness cleaned the kitchen.

Roberts' son found her on the floor of the bathroom the next morning. A bath mat was covering her head.

The witness said they gathered some items, including a telephone, and took them with them when they left. He said he remembered items being thrown from the truck at some point. The witness said they went to his home, talked about what to do and then drove down a dirt road to a place called Turtle Beach. There the two men took some things and headed in one direction. They gave the witness a couple of items, including a ski mask, to hide. The witness said he put the items under a tree.

The witness said the men then took him home. He said he put his bloody clothes in the washing machine, took a shower and then passed out. The witness said for three decades he never told anyone what happened. He said he was afraid of what Sarver and the other man would do. He knew that Sarver was working for the Wood County Sheriff's Office as a confidential informant, so he also was afraid of what the police would do, he said.

"I never told anybody," the witness said.

Witness said memories started to come back stronger after he went to police

After officers arrested Sarver in August 2020, the witness was at a bonfire at his son's home when a neighbor brought up the case.

"I couldn't take it," the witness said.

He said he went to work that night and the next night, but then he decided he had to say something. He contacted Nekoosa Police Chief Shawn Woods because he knew him.

Defense Attorney Jeremiah Meyer-O'Day played a video of the witness's interview with police. When the witness first talked to officers he seemed confused about whether the memories he had of Roberts' death were real or a dream. Officers offered to help the witness determine if his memories were real.

Meyer-O'Day asked the witness if he had watched news reports on television about the murder, and he said no. He asked if the witness had read newspaper accounts of it, and he said he tried not to because it stirred up the memories.

Meyer-O'Day questioned how the witness's story had changed in the two years since he first went to police. He no longer believes his memories could be dreams, the witness said. He's also continued to remember details he didn't know two years ago.

The witness said during the decades when he hadn't told anybody what happened, when a memory of that night came into his head, he would do whatever he could to block it out. After he started talking about what happened, the memories started to come back stronger.

"It's how it plays in your head all the time," he said "It just keeps going round and round, then some things pop back in."

Woods also took the stand Thursday. He said he called and arranged for the witness to get help after he came forward with his story because the witness was distressed. Woods called the Crisis Intervention and they put a safety plan in place for the witness.

"He said he had a gun to his head," Woods said. "He said he didn't pull the trigger because the truth would go to the grave with him."

Forensic pathologist testifies Roberts was likely dead when she was stabbed

University of Wisconsin-Madison forensic pathologist Dr. Robert Corliss testified by Zoom Thursday afternoon. Corliss had studied the original autopsy report and photos done on Roberts, because the forensic pathologist who did the autopsy has since died.

Previously, officials had said someone had stabbed Roberts about 17 times, but Corliss said he counted more stab wounds. There were 15 stab wounds in her upper back, 9 or 10 under her right arm, two under her left arm and one in the middle of her chest, Corliss said.

Corliss said the original autopsy found that Roberts didn't bleed into parts of her chest cavity where doctors would expect in someone who had been stabbed in the heart and other organs where she was stabbed. Roberts likely was either dead or incapacitated when she was stabbed, Corliss said.

Corliss said he's done about 3,000 autopsies in his career, but only about 10 of them are from what is called, "complex homicidal violence." The phrase means more than one weapon is used in the death. Police believe the killer gave Roberts severe head injuries using a phone and stabbed her with the scissors.

Former Wood County Investigator David Laude also took the stand Thursday. Laude, who would go on to become a lieutenant in the department, talked with Roberts' son, Marshall Roberts, the day after he found his mother on the bathroom floor. A previous investigator said Marshall Roberts had been surprisingly calm the day he found his mother.

Laude said Marshall Roberts was very upset the next day. He cried every time Laude asked him a question.

Laude also talked to Sarver a couple weeks after the murder about an unrelated case that involved one of Sarver's family members. Sarver was extremely angry about what happened to the family member but became very calm when Laude asked him if he knew anything about Eleanore Roberts.

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: Eleanore Roberts murder trial: Witness testifies to being at victim's home