MILWAUKEE (AP) — A man charged with murder in the disappearance a young Milwaukee girl more than three decades ago has pleaded not guilty.
Fifty-year-old Jose Ferreira entered the plea to second-degree murder Tuesday and waived his preliminary hearing in the death of 13-year-old Carrie Ann Jopek who went missing in March 1982. Her body was later found buried underneath a neighbor’s back porch.
A criminal complaint says Ferreira confessed to police that he pushed the girl down a flight of stairs. Authorities say Ferreira was arrested after his wife recently went to police and told them he had confessed to her. The complaint says Ferreira called WISN-TV in Milwaukee and a mental health crisis hotline and discussed the death that same day.
His public defender didn’t immediately return a call for comment.