A man waiting trial for a 2010 murder and rape in Oklahoma has been charged for a rape which occurred in Iola in 1990.
The state Department of Justice filed one count of first-degree sexual assault against Glendon C. Gouker, 41, in Waupaca County Circuit Court Monday, Feb. 4.
Authorities say Gouker is also a “person of interest” in the March 22, 1992 double homicide of 23-year-old Tanna Togstad and 35-year-old Tim Mumbrue, in a farmhouse just north of Weyauwega.
Togstad and Mumbrue were stabbed to death.
After re-opening the case in 2008, investigators disclosed Togstad had been sexually assaulted.
At a press conference Monday, Feb. 4, Waupaca County Sheriff Brad Hardel said after he assigned two detectives to review the 1992 homicide case, they began looking at similar violent crimes in Waupaca County at around the same time as the murder.
DNA collected from the victim of the 1990 rape was sent to the State Crime Lab for analysis.
“We felt that the technology of DNA is so much better now,” Hardel said.
Gouker’s DNA was identified from evidence collected from the then 20-year-old Iola woman, who was brutally raped while walking home from the grocery store at about 7:40 p.m. on Nov. 5, 1990.
According to the criminal complaint against Gouker, the woman was walking along the 500 block of Water Street in Iola, near Olson Park, when she heard someone running behind her.
She turned and saw a man in a dark mask, black gloves and camouflage jacket coming after her.
The man grabbed her by the neck and began dragging her down a hill into the park.
When she tried to scream, he placed his hand over her mouth and threatened to kill her.
He eventually took her to a secluded area at Taylor Field Park.
She was blindfolded and forced to remove her clothes.
The woman told investigators the man held either a stick or a knife against her back and said, “I’m not afraid to use this, not one bit. I don’t care if you’re warm or dead, honey. I’m just doing my job; I got paid to do this.”
She described the man as about 6-foot tall and weighing 200 pounds. She said he had a southern accent.
On Nov. 6, 1990, then Iola Police Officer Gene Goode responded to a vandalism complaint on the 400 block of Water Street.
Gouker’s former roommate reported all four tires on his vehicle had been slashed.
He suspected Gouker of slashing his tires, because he had threatened to take Gouker to court for failing to pay the rent.
He described Gouker as 6-foot tall, weighing approximately 190 pounds and having a southern accent.
He also showed Goode a path, which led from behind the house on Water Street to Gouker’s apartment on State Street.
On Nov. 8, 1990, Iola police executed a search warrant of Gouker’s apartment and vehicle.
They seized as evidence at least half a dozen hunting knives, a camouflage jacket, a dark stocking cap with mask and dark leather gloves.
Gouker’s DNA was not identified from the evidence collected from the rape in 1990 until Sept. 26, 2011.
The DNA is 44 trillion times more likely to belong to Gouker than to a random individual, according to the criminal complaint.
When asked about the delay in prosecuting Gouker, Hardel said investigators did not believe they had sufficient evidence for a conviction at the time of the 1990 rape.
He added that investigators plan to question Gouker about the homicide, once they have him in custody in Waupaca County.
Gouker is currently awaiting trial in a homicide case in Oklahoma, where he moved in September 1993.
He is accused of murdering Ethan Walton in September 2010.
According to the Oklahoma criminal complaint, Walton and his girlfriend went to Gouker’s home to discuss a real estate deal.
The boyfriend went into Gouker’s house, where he was handcuffed and beaten to death.
The girlfriend was lured into an outbuilding, where she was raped at gunpoint while Walton lay nearby, dying.
The woman was able to escape to a neighbor’s home and call for help.
Police found Walton’s body stuffed in a 55-gallon drum on Gouker’s property.
Gouker is scheduled to appear in Wauaca County Circuit Court on Feb. 7.
Assistant Attorney General Jeffrey Gabrysiak is serving as special prosecutor in this case.
While Gouker has been identified as a person of interest in the Togstad-Mumbrue homicide, investigators believe there are other people living in the area, who have knowledge of the crime.
“The killer, or killers, of this couple left evidence behind when they entered Togstad’s home and savagely murdered the victims. We’re now looking to the community for tips to help us identify a match to the DNA left at the crime scene,” Hardel said. “With advances in DNA technology, we hope to bring justice for the families of these two young people.”
Hardel would not comment on whether any of Goeker’s DNA was identified at the Togstad-Mumbrue murder scene.
Anyone with information about this case should contact the Waupaca County Sheriff’s Department at 715-258-4466, or the Division of Criminal Investigation at 608-266-1671.