By Shereen Siewert
A jury trial is underway in Stevens Point for a 45-year-old man accused of killing his wife and hiding her body.
Jason Sypher faces charges filed Aug. 23, 2018 in Portage County Circuit Court of first degree intentional homicide and hiding a corpse in connection with the disappearance of his wife, Krista M. Sypher, who was reported missing from her Plover home on March 13, 2017.
One day after charges were filed, Jason Sypher was arrested approximately five miles north of the Illinois/Wisconsin border on I-39/I-90 following a traffic stop by Wisconsin State Patrol, Wisconsin Department of Justice (DOJ) Division of Criminal Investigation (DCI), and Plover Police Department, according to a DOJ news release.
During a May motion hearing defense attorney Gary Kryshak argued detectives had “no body, and no blood” to indicate Krista Sypher, 44, was dead. Kryshak also objected to evidence uncovered by a K9 handler during a search of the family’s home, questioning the accuracy of the dog’s alerts, but a judge overruled his objections and will allow the evidence at trial.
Additional evidence is expected to include statements from a former girlfriend of Jason Sypher and video of what appears to be a body-shaped bag observed March 20, 2017 at a Mosinee transfer facility.
The trial is expected to last about two weeks.
The case is being handled by special prosecutor Annie Jay from the Wisconsin Department of Justice and Portage Co. District Attorney Louis Molepske.
If he is convicted on the homicide charge Jason Sypher faces a maximum penalty of life in prison, plus 10 additional years if he is also convicted of hiding a corpse. He remains jailed on a $750,000 cash bond.
