GREEN BAY (NBC 26) — Lou Archie Griffin, 67, who was charged in the 1986 killing of Lisa Holstead was sentenced on Monday.
The case was once considered the longest-unsolved murder in Green Bay, Griffin was sentenced to the maximum of 10 years in prison.
In January, Griffin pleaded 'no contest' to a charge of Homicide by Reckless Conduct with the court finding him guilty. He was originally charged with First Degree Intentional Homicide, a higher class felony than the reckless conduct charge.
Lisa Holstead was 22 years old in August of 1986 when she was found dead in a marshy section of the Ken Euers Nature Area. She had been sexually assaulted and strangled.
Investigators said that at the time of her killing, Griffin lived within a few miles of where her body was found.
Police announced in 2020 the arrest of Lou Archie Griffin for Holstead's killing. Griffin was identified as a suspect in Holstead’s slaying after Green Bay police sent DNA evidence found on her body to a company that performs forensic genetic genealogy testing. That testing provided information on the suspect’s heritage and possible relatives.
Griffin was eventually placed under police surveillance and DNA that was collected from cigarettes and beer cans he had discarded matched the DNA collected in the murder case, police said.
Griffin was cooperative and voluntarily went to the sheriff's office to talk with investigators. He told police he might have had sex with Holstead but denied killing her. He remembered he was high on cocaine and drinking alcohol that night.
The judge credited Griffin with 880 days of time served.
