A 70 year old Minocqua man will spend the rest of his life in prison for the April, 1982 homicide of his wife.
Marathon County Judge Jill Falstad sentenced Robin Mendez Tuesday to the mandatory term of life in prison for the killing of his wife Barbara at the credit union where she worked in Minocqua.
Mendez had been carrying on a sexual relationship with a 14 year old girl at the time, and was having trouble in his marriage, which was presented as the motive. Falstad found a defense effort to show two other possible suspects to be without merit. C
harges against Mendez were the result of an effort by the TV show "Cold Justice" which examines long time cold cases using new techniques.
Testimony by several witnesses, including Mendez' daughters, led law enforcement to press charges. A nearly month-long tral in April before Falstad ended with her determining Mendez to be guilty.
Falstad ordered Mendez to have no contact with one daughter. He will be credited with 354 days in jail.
