A Racine County jury on Friday cleared William Bunch of killing Vanessa Anderson and her unborn child, closing out a trial tied to a 2021 slaying that has weighed on the community. Anderson, 31, was found inside her Racine apartment just days before she was due to give birth. According to FOX6 News, court records show 46-year-old Bunch was acquitted of first-degree intentional homicide and first-degree intentional homicide (unborn child). Prosecutors had charged him in June 2022.
Case background
Racine police were called on Oct. 8, 2021, after a landlord found Anderson unresponsive in an apartment near St. Patrick Street and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, according to CBS58. Her family told reporters she was just eight days away from a scheduled C-section, and an autopsy found she died from blunt force trauma.
Prosecutors' allegations
Prosecutors argued Bunch was the father of Anderson's unborn child, was married to another woman and did not want Anderson to have his baby, according to the criminal complaint reviewed by TMJ4. The complaint described Bunch as "evasive" and "nervous" during police interviews and quoted him saying, "Man, I didn't have anything to do with that," while sweating profusely.
A witness told investigators Bunch had asked to borrow a crowbar and later gave details that investigators said only someone who had been at the scene would know, according to the complaint.
What the verdict means
The jury's not-guilty verdict clears Bunch on all counts that were presented at trial. Court records reflect his acquittal, as reported by FOX6 News, which cited information from the Racine County District Attorney's Office and Wisconsin Circuit Court records.
Family reaction
When Anderson's death was first reported, relatives told reporters she was a devoted mother and pleaded with the public to help them find answers, CBS58 reported. With Bunch now acquitted, her children and the Racine community are left with the same hard question that surfaced back in 2021: who killed Vanessa Anderson and her unborn baby.
