A 72-year-old Okemos resident was arrested Monday morning and charged with the open murder of his wife — an offense that was committed 38 years ago.
Recently collected evidence by the Ingham County Cold Case Task Force led officials to accuse Dr. Charles William Mercer Jr. of contributing to the death of Sally Sue Mercer, who died at the age of 31 in 1968.
Sally Mercer died in the couple's home, and the initial investigation was closed after her cause of death was considered to be bulbar polio.
"At the time of the death it was not believed to be a homicide," Ingham County Sheriff Gene Wriggelsworth said. "Certain forensic technology was not available in 1968, and this is a big reason the case was reopened in 1995 because the technology was now available."
Bulbar polio is a strain of poliovirus that affects the central nervous system and attacks the brain stem. Nervous system functions, such as breathing, smell, vision, swallowing and other facial and head movements can also be affected.
The case was reopened in 1995 by a detective from the Ingham County Sheriff's Office, now retired, who established enough evidence to amend Sally Mercer's death certificate to show the cause of death to be homicide.
The Ingham County Cold Case Task Force — including detectives from the Ingham County Sheriff's Office, Michigan State Police and the MSU Police Department — took up the case again in July 2003.
Individual detectives from the task force could not comment on the case.
In their investigation, they exhumed Sally Mercer's body for a second autopsy and discovered a definite cause of death, which was not bulbar polio.
Officials wouldn't specify the actual cause of death.
Charles Mercer, a former medical doctor, is scheduled to appear for a preliminary examination June 15, but the date could be pushed back because of the amount of documents needed to process, Ingham County Prosecutor Stuart Dunnings III said.
Mercer's attorney, Chris Bergstrom declined comment on the case due to a court order.
Mercer is being held at the Ingham County Jail on a $2 million cash bond.
Staff writer Justin Kroll contributed to this report.
