Suspect arrested in Wis. burn-pit body case

JANESVILLE, Wis. — A southern Wisconsin man was arrested Wednesday on suspicion of hiding the remains of a 19-year-old woman whose body was burned in a fire pit in his yard.

The Rock County sheriff’s office said the 29-year-old man also was arrested on suspicion of mutilating a corpse; pandering; possession of THC, the active ingredient in marijuana; possession of drug paraphernalia; and failure to notify the coroner of a death.

Earlier, the Porter man was being held on suspicion of a probation violation. He is a person of interest in the disappearance of 19-year-old Aprina Paul of Fitchburg but has not been charged.

A lab in Dallas is examining bone fragments recovered from the burn pit. If that evidence indicates a cause of Paul’s death, other charges are possible, the sheriff’s office said.

The man is expected to appear in court Thursday. Sheriff Robert D. Spoden said he expects the district attorney’s office to file charges by Friday.

Spoden said authorities are confident the bone fragments found in the pit are Paul’s. He said authorities also are certain Paul was with the suspect.

In court documents, police say the man met Paul through an online ad for sex, and two days later burned her body over a fire in his yard.

The search warrant affidavit said the man told police that Paul responded to his online ad for sex Oct. 27, the day her family said they last saw her leaving home with an unknown man.

The suspect remains in jail. The sheriff said the jail does not take messages for inmates.