On April 26, 2013, James Mahlon Prokopovitz reported that his wife, 59-year-old Victoria Prokopovitz, had disappeared during the early morning hours.
Victoria’s cell phone, purse, and ID were still at her home where she had lived with her husband, James, in Pittsfield, Wisconsin.
Victoria was presumed missing, and her family extended a $17,000 reward for any information leading to locating her.
However no trace of Victoria was ever found.
Victoria’s family was suspicious of James soon after Victoria went missing. They claimed James refused to participate in the frequent searches for her, making statements such as “She is dead. She is nowhere around here. She is never coming back.”
After 6 years, in 2019, a John Doe hearing took place regarding Victoria’s disappearance. A John Doe investigation begins when a complaint is filed with a judge alleging there is reason to believe a crime has been committed.
The complaint states that both James Prokopovitz and his girlfriend, Kathryn Friday, were lying about when they met each other.
James Prokopovitz testified under oath that “I did not kill my wife Vicki but I did lie to the police for years in connection with the investigation surrounding her disappearance.”
“The truth is that I was concerned what people would think about me if they found out I was involved with another woman so soon after my wife went missing so Kathy and I agreed to come up with this lie which we told police for years and ultimately I told the court under oath today.”
Police arrested James Prokopovitz in May 2019 to face counts of first-degree intentional homicide, obstructing police, conspiracy to commit perjury, and perjury before court. A $2 million cash bond was set in court for Prokopovitz on May 9.
Kathryn Friday was also charged with perjury before court, resisting or obstructing an officer and conspiracy to commit perjury. Friday was released on a $25,000 bond. She attended court on June 26 for a preliminary hearing and plead no contest to the charges. Kathy was found guilty and was due back in court for sentencing on 2 November 2020, but never made it. Deputy District Attorney Wendy Lemkuil told Brown County Judge Tammy Jo Hock that Kathryn Friday had died, according to court records. It was later revealed that Friday had taken her own life.
Friday could have been sentenced to up to 12 years, but considering the circumstances, Deputy DA Lemkuil moved to dismiss the charges, which was granted by Judge Tammy Jo Hock.
The trial was initially before Brown County Circuit Court Judge Timothy Hinkfuss, but he slipped on ice and broke his ankle during the course of the proceedings, and was replaced by Brown County Circuit Court Judge William Atkinson.
Defense Attorney John D’Angelo
James Prokopovitz was represented at his 2021 trial by Defense Attorney John D’Angelo, who argued lack of evidence, “The fact of the matter is that there will be no closure for anybody in this case, because we don’t know where Victoria is,” “My client doesn’t know where Victoria is.”
Deputy District Attorney Wendy Lemkuil
Deputy District Attorney Wendy Lemkuil argued, “This case, from the time we filed those charges, was abundantly clear. Mr. Prokopovitz killed his wife, covered up the circumstances after by getting rid of her body and lied to people for years,” “He’s still lying about what happened in this case.”
Assistant District Attorney Caleb Saunders
Assistant District Attorney Caleb Saunders noted it has been 2,854 days since Victoria was last seen, and contended that since then, James Prokopovitz and his girlfriend have repeatedly lied about what happened to Victoria.
“The truth in this case in the lies. The truth, if you carefully consider the evidence in this case, the state believes you’ll find the truth in this case is that the defendant killed Vicki, and he’s guilty of all four charged offenses,” Saunders said.
Defense attorney John D’Angelo said this is a missing person case, and, given her mental health history, perhaps a suicide, but it’s not a murder.
When the judge asked James Prokopovitz if he’d like to say anything, he declined.
James Prokopovitz worked for Mc Keefry & Sons trucking, and had access to sludge ponds filled with industrial waste, which were put forward as a possible location for the disposal of Victoria’s body.
Under oath in the May 8th 2019 John Doe hearing, James Prokopovitz said “I think if a body was put into the sludge ponds it would never be found,” according to the criminal complaint. “I know that as I saw what happened to the deer that went in there. I did not dispose of my wife in the sludge ponds.”
On February 27, 2021, James Mahlon Prokopovitz was found guilty of all four charges in the case:
- 1st-Degree Intentional Homicide [Modifiers: Domestic Abuse], a class A felony, Wisconsin Statutes 940.01(1)(a).
- Obstructing an Officer, a class A misdemeanor, Wisconsin Statutes 946.41(1).
- Perjury-Before Court [Modifiers: Conspiracy to Commit], a class H felony, Wisconsin Statutes 946.31(1)(a).
- Perjury-Before Court, a class H felony, Wisconsin Statutes 946.31(1)(a).
Prokopovitz was sentenced to life imprisonment without possibility of parole, and is currently incarcerated at Waupun Correctional Institution.
State of Wisconsin Vs James Mahlon Prokopovitz, File 19CF716.
Aliases:
CURLY PROKPOVITZ
JAMES M. PROKOPOVITZ
Birth Year: 1945
Status: INCARCERATED
Institution: Waupun Correctional Institution
Region Unit Office: Unit 413
Region Unit Agent: 4 13 17
2646 N Packerland Drive
Green Bay, WI 54303
(920) 492-5760
Maximum Discharge Date: 01/20/9999
Mandatory Release/Extended Supervision Date: 01/20/9999
Parole Eligibility Date: N/A
View the condensed trial on Court in the Act Trials YouTube channel (click the image):
View the case details at Wisconsin Circuit Court Access:
Sources:
https://fox11online.com/news/local/17000-reward-extended-in-missing-woman-case
https://fox11online.com/news/local/charges-filed-against-husband-in-wifes-murder?src=link
https://fox11online.com/news/crime/woman-connected-to-disappearance-case-dies-before-sentencing
Court in the Act 
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