A 24-year old Madison man, formerly of Wausau could make his initial appearance as early as Dec. 1 on first degree intentional homicide in the death of his mother June 6.
Chase M.A. Boruch was arrested at his apartment Monday evening by members of the Madison Police Department after being notified by the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Department that they had obtained a warrant for his arrest earlier that day. Lincoln County Circuit Court Judge Glenn Hartley signed the warrant based on information in a criminal complaint filed by Lincoln County prosecutor Don Dunphy.
At a Tuesday morning press conference, Lincoln County Sheriff Jeff Jaeger said the county 911 center received a call from Boruch saying the truck carrying he and his mother, Sally Pergolski, 63, of Wausau had gone into Moraine Lake off Highway B in Harrison Township. He told dispatchers that his mother was still in the vehicle.
Jaeger said that the first deputy on the scene found Pergolski laying face down on the shore and not breathing. He started CPR and continued until rescue personnel arrived. She was later pronounced dead at the scene.
Jaeger said that the positioning of Pergolski and the fact that the pick-up truck was only in the water up to its rocker panels made investigators question the incident almost immediately.
“It wasn’t a case of the vehicle being submerged,” Jaeger said Tuesday.
During the course of the investigation it was learned that a couple of life insurance policies had been taken out on Pergolski prior to her death that listed Boruch as the beneficiary. Jaeger said this also made investigators look at the accident more closely.
Jaeger said that during the autopsy it was discovered that signs in Pergolski’s brain were consistent with a death caused by suffocation, strangulation or other trauma that would cut the flow of oxygen to her brain. Jaeger could not say exactly what caused this injury, however.
“Her death was not the result of a traffic accident,” he said.
The investigation took so long to reach the stage where Boruch was arrested due to the long wait for toxicology and other lab results from the State Crime Lab. Jaeger said 20 search warrants and subpoenas were served during the investigation and 111 pieces of evidence was collected.
Boruch, who served a tour of duty in Iraq with the Army, had attended UW-Marathon County before moving to Madison a couple months ago to attend college there.
He was being transported by LCSD investigators from Madison Tuesday morning and was expected to be booked into the Lincoln County Jail that afternoon. His first court appearance will be either Wednesday or Thursday.
Jaeger referred any questions about the criminal complaint to Dunphy, who was in court Tuesday and unavailable for comment.