Crime & Safety

Man Pleads Not Guilty in Door County Slaying

Brian M. Cooper is slated to go on trial in January 2013 in the murder of Alisha Bromfield.

A local man accused of strangling a pregnant 21-year-old pleaded not guilty Thursday in Door County court.

Brian M. Cooper, 35, is changed with two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of Alisha N. Bromfield and her unborn daughter, who was to be named Ava Lucille.

He is also charged with third-degree sexual assault, accused of having sex with Bromfield after killing her.

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Sheriff Terry Vogel said Cooper and Bromfield, who both had Plainfield addresses, were in Door County to attend the wedding of Cooper's sister. 

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Bromfield died Aug. 19. Her body was found the next day at a resort in Nasewaupee, Wisconsin, after Cooper called police to report the murder from a gas station in nearby Sister Bay, police said.

Cooper appeared in court Thursday to enter not guilty pleas to all three counts, drawing "an audible gasp” from a group of Bromfield’s family and friends, according to the Green Bay Press Gazette.

Cooper is accused of killing Bromfield after she rejected his attempts to rekindle a romantic relationship.

Vogel said Bromfield was more than six months pregnant when she died.

Cooper’s trial is scheduled to begin Jan. 28, 2013.

READ MORE: 

  • Murder Charges Filed in Door County Slaying of Pregnant Woman
  • Report: Plainfield Man Held in Girlfriend's Death in Wisconsin
  • Bond Set at $1 Million in Death of Pregnant Woman
  • Funeral Scheduled for Alisha Bromfield


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