Detective testifies in trial of Zachariah Anderson, man charged in ...

A Kenosha Police detective tasked with investigating the disappearance and death of Rosalio Gutierrez Jr. testified in court Thursday during the homicide trial of the man accused of killing him.

Det. Vicente Correa testified for the state in the third week of the jury trial of Zachariah Anderson, of Mequon. Anderson, 42, is accused of killing 40-year-old Gutierrez with blunt force the evening of May 17, 2020, inside Gutierrez’s first-floor Wood Creek apartment in what prosecutors have called a jealous rage.

Prosecutors allege Anderson killed him because he was deeply upset that Gutierrez began having a romantic relationship with Sadie Beacham, his ex-girlfriend and mother of his children.

Gutierrez’s body has never been recovered and his friends and family have not heard from him in nearly three years. Prosecutors maintain Gutierrez is dead based on the large amount of blood spatter found inside his apartment.

Gutierrez, a father of two young children, was reported missing May 19, 2020, after Beacham went to his apartment in the 3700 block of 15th Street, and found the patio door open with heavy blood stains on the floor, door and furniture. Beacham testified that she had been trying to reach him by phone before driving to his apartment out of deep concern for his well-being.

Kenosha Police focused on Anderson after Beacham reported that Anderson had been stalking and harassing her in the weeks after she began developing a relationship with Gutierrez.

Anderson is charged with first-degree intentional homicide, a Class A felony that carries a sentence of life in prison if convicted. Anderson is also charged with felonies of hiding a corpse and stalking.

The prosecution used Correa’s testimony to connect evidence and statements previously highlighted by the state during the trial.

Correa testified that several text messages were sent between Anderson and Beacham in the week before the Gutierrez’s death. Correa also showed jurors the movements Anderson allegedly made in Kenosha near Gutierrez’s residence in the days before his disappearance and death based on data from his cellphone. He said Anderson also searched the internet for information about Gutierrez.

Correa also said Anderson searched the internet on his smartphone for “general home improvement” store hours the morning after he allegedly killed Gutierrez, including a Walmart.

Correa also testified about the search warrant executed on Anderson’s property in the days following Gutierrez’s disappearance. Correa said investigators searched Anderson’s work van — the vehicle prosecutors suggested he used to move Gutierrez’s body — and found carpet had recently been ripped up and it smelled of chemicals.

“Within that van they discovered that there were apparent bleach spots, that the vehicle had smelled like bleach, there was carpet ripped out and from what they observed possible apparent blood droplets,” Correa said.

Correa said he’s spent thousands of hours investigating the case.

Lengthy trial continues

Judge Bruce Schroeder is presiding over the trial before a jury of eight women and five men, which includes one alternate.

The prosecution is led by District Attorney Michael Graveley who throughout the trial has argued Anderson killed Gutierrez out of jealousy and an obsession over his ex-girlfriend.

Defense attorney Nicole Muller has argued Kenosha Police failed to look at other possible suspects and prematurely zeroed in on Anderson based on claims made by Beacham.

The prosecution is expected to rest this week. The trial, in its third week, is expected to last another week at least.

Child testified Tuesday

On Wednesday, Anderson and Beacham’s child, who the Kenosha News is not naming, said Anderson suggested to her that he would follow Gutierrez.

She also testified that on May 16, 2020, the day before prosecutors believe Gutierrez was killed, that Anderson took her and her siblings to his family’s tree farm with his work van, the same van Anderson allegedly drove to a Saukville Walmart the morning of May 18, 2020, to purchase trash bags, cleaning wipes and gloves.

The girl said that the van was not missing a portion of its carpet and did not have bleach stains when she rode in it to the tree farm.

Anderson is being held on a $750,000 cash bond at the Kenosha County Jail. He has been in custody since shortly after Gutierrez’s disappearance, initially charged with stalking.

The homicide charge was added in December 2020 after an investigation found evidence that indicated Anderson may have moved Gutierrez’s dead body in his van to another location.