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Defense attorney attacks during husband’s court appearance on homicide charge

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David Brossard

ELKHORN — Prosecutors have a weak case against the Burlington man accused of killing his wife 10 years ago and disposing her body in Geneva Lake, the man’s attorney told a Walworth County judge Thursday.

No one witnessed David A. Brossard kill his wife, no physical evidence was recovered and the allegations against him are full of innuendo, defense attorney Charles Blumenfield said.

Blumenfield filed a motion to dismiss the case and a motion to strike improper allegations in the criminal complaint.

“My client has a very strong desire to fight back” and aggressively defend himself, Blumenfield said. “These allegations are simply that, these are allegations.”

Brossard, 40, of 7740 Fish Hatchery Road, Burlington, appeared in Walworth County Court on a charge of first-degree intentional homicide stemming from the death of his wife, Dawn M. Brossard, who was 29 when she went missing in 1997.

Family members on both sides declined to comment after the hearing.

Judge James Carlson ordered David held in the Walworth County Jail on a $500,000 cash bond at the request of Walworth County District Attorney Phil Koss.

“Clearly this is a serious offense,” Koss said.

David, who was convicted of homicide by intoxicated use of a vehicle in 1988 when he was 20, is not a risk to run, his attorney said during bail arguments.

David knew he was a “person of interest” in the investigation, Blumenfield said, and he never attempted to flee.

David is a homeowner and has parents, two brothers and a live-in girlfriend in the area, he said.

“Not only is he not going to leave the area, but he is not a threat,” Blumenfield said.

In response, Koss said David might not have fled because “I assume he thought he could get away with it.”

David was arrested Tuesday in Menasha where he was working.

According to the criminal complaint, David and Dawn were having affairs, fighting and discussing divorce in the days leading up to her disappearance.

Dawn was reported missing Oct. 25, 1997, after she didn’t arrive for work at the State Financial Bank of Waterford in Burlington, according to the criminal complaint.

David is suspected of beating his wife in the head to kill her in 1997, then anchoring her body in the lake with chains and concrete blocks, according to the criminal complaint and investigators.

Nearly six years later, Dawn’s body was found at the bottom of Geneva Lake on July 11, 2003.

The body was found off Conference Point near Williams Bay, according to the criminal complaint.

The chains, bolts and concrete blocks used to hold her to the bottom are similar to those used at Anchor Marine, the Burlington business where David worked in 1997 as a mechanic, according to the criminal complaint.

In court Thursday, the defense attorney asked the judge for a gag order to bar investigators and attorneys from talking to the media.

The judge told Blumenfield he would have to file a motion.

Carlson also ordered David not to contact 25 potential witnesses and family members on a list provided by the prosecutor.

If convicted, David faces up to life in prison.

He is scheduled to have a preliminary hearing at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday, Sept. 24.