SUN PRAIRIE, Wis. (WKOW) — A man was formally charged on Tuesday with first-degree intentional homicide in the death of a Sun Prairie woman.
Gerson Blas Noe, 23, was charged with the following felonies:
- First-degree intentional homicide
- Providing false information about a kidnapped or missing person
- Hiding a corpse
Prosecutors allege he killed Ingrid Isamar Valverde-Ponce, 27. Sun Prairie police said he was the last known person to see her alive.
At an initial appearance on Tuesday, Assistant District Attorney William Brown said Blas Noe lied to police and even ran away in the middle of an interview.
"[Blas Noe] fled on foot without shoes on and remained in the freezing weather for hours, trying to hide from the police," Brown said.
According to the criminal complaint, the defendant told law enforcement that he ran from the questioning because he was nervous and felt like he did not do a good job explaining what happened.
Brown said Valverde-Ponce indicated to a friend that she recently became pregnant and believed Blas Noe was the father. The two were in a romantic relationship.
Blas Noe had expressed he was not ready to be a father. His phone records showed he searched the following phrases around the time Valverde-Ponce went missing:
- Unwanted pregnancy
- Blood pregnancy test near me
- Cabela's requisites to buy firearms
- Dead people in Madison Wisconsin
- Wisconsin polygraph tests
- Missing Madison woman
Flock cameras put Blas Noe's vehicle at the place where Valverde-Ponce's body was found.
"By the time the body was found, it was completely frozen, and there's been some delay in the investigation for that reason," Brown said.
A criminal complaint against Blas Noe said Valverde-Ponce's cause of death was still under investigation but a non-natural cause of death could not be excluded, and there was no evidence of hypothermia. This means Valverde-Ponce was dead prior to being placed in the field her body was found in.
Detectives say they found the victim's body lying next to hay bales. Officers also observed tire tracks near her body. Blas Noe's defense attorney argues, Blas Noe is not physically capable of having placed Valverde-Ponce in the field.
The prosecution says, Blas Noe attempted to hide potential evidence, accusing him of discarding the clothes he wore the night Valverde-Ponce disappeared.
"Witnesses report the defendant attempting to throw his clothes away, and those clothes were later found having been doused with isopropyl alcohol in a garbage can," Brown said.
Brown said additional charges may coming once an autopsy shows conclusively whether Valverde-Ponce was pregnant.
Brown said Blas Noe was in the country illegally. However, Blas Noe's defense attorney argues he was here seeking asylum.
The court set Blas Noe's bail at $800,000 cash. He is scheduled to be back in court on Jan. 29.
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