Eau Claire (WQOW) - We have some interesting new information Monday on the investigation into a murder in Eau Claire.
Paul Oberle was found dead in his yard on Vine Street 10 days ago.
The state crime lab is analyzing possible evidence collected at the scene. Police tell us Monday that they expect test results to come in either late this week or early next week. Depending on what that evidence shows, they say an arrest could come soon after that. Right now a suspect is being 'detained' but has not been arrested or charged.
Police also tell us that they don't believe robbery was a motive in the murder. And detectives are still trying to determine what happened from the time Oberle arrived home from his overnight job to the time his body was found seven hours later.
On Saturday they stopped traffic near Oberle's home to question drivers if they had seen or heard anything on the Saturday before. Police have done the same thing in past murder investigations.
Also, police say they had only two contacts with Oberle when he was alive. One involved him asking police to check on some elderly neighbors. But they won't give us specifics of the other incident due to the ongoing investigation.
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Eau Claire (Press Release from the ECPD) - On Saturday, June 16, 2012, the Eau Claire Police Department conducted a traffic survey/canvass on Vine Street related to the death of Paul Oberle. This is a common practice that is used in most homicide and major case investigations.
Over the past week, the Eau Claire Police Department has conducted hundreds of interviews with individuals including with residents in the surrounding neighborhood. This is done in an effort to gather as much information as possible regarding the circumstances of this case. Likewise, a traffic survey accomplishes a similar goal.
People often follow a similar routine day-to-day or week-to-week. The traffic survey is set up during the same timeframe and day of the week as the crime was committed, just one week later. This is to gather additional information from those people who may not live in the neighborhood, however, travel through the area at the same time each week. This voluntary process yielded information which detectives are continuing to investigate.
The Eau Claire Police Department is conducting this investigation in a precise manner that allows for the most information and evidence to be compiled for the ultimate purpose of prosecution of the person responsible and closure for Paul Oberle's family. Unfortunately in doing this, certain information cannot be released to the public at this time. As previously released, this was an isolated and targeted incident. An individual remains legally detained and there continues to be no threat to the community.
The Eau Claire Police Department will release additional information as appropriate.
