Summary

In September 1977, Ralph Ambrose Gianoli was brutally murdered in his home in Kenosha, Wisconsin. The Kenosha Police Department responded and began collecting evidence and investigating. They determined 48-year-old Gianoli had been badly beaten and strangled with an electrical cord. An autopsy later determined that he died from blunt force trauma to the head and abdomen. Investigators at the time found signs of a violent struggle inside the home. Blood was found in both the bedroom and living room, broken beer bottles were found inside the residence, and blood was also found on the outside of the front door.

Despite an exhaustive investigation, no suspect was identified and the case went cold. In an effort to crack the decades-old case, investigators engaged Othram to leverage identity inference, a process that enables investigators to identify individuals from DNA evidence, even when there is no known reference sample to initially compare against. Officials with the Kenosha Police Department, Wisconsin DOJ, & FBI worked together to submit forensic evidence to Othram's laboratory headquartered in The Woodlands, Texas.

At Othram, scientists reviewed details of the case, determining that advanced DNA testing could help to identify the suspect. Othram scientists worked to develop a DNA extract from the provided forensic evidence, using Forensic-Grade Genome Sequencing® to build a comprehensive SNP profile for the suspect. After successfully completing the process, the DNA profile was delivered to investigators who conducted a forensic genetic genealogy search to generate new leads in the case.

Using this new information, a follow-up investigation was conducted, which led to the positive identification of the suspect, who is now known to be 68-year-old James Terry Fowler of Memphis, Tennessee.

James Fowler was 19 years old and on leave from the Great Lakes Naval Training Center in Illinois when the killing occurred. Fowler was convicted of killing his father in Alabama six years later in 1983. He was arrested in Tennessee on a charge of first-degree murder on March 30, 2026. He will be returned to Wisconsin to face trial.

This case is a reminder that every piece of preserved evidence has the potential to unlock long-awaited answers. If you would like to support efforts to solve more cases like this, consider contributing your DNA data to the DNASolves database which aids law enforcement in identifying suspects and giving families the answers they deserve.

This is the 7th publicly announced case in the State of Wisconsin where officials leveraged Othram’s identity inference pipeline. Explore other cases on Othram’s website.