Police arrest husband in Janesville homicide
JANESVILLE — When hospital staff removed Krystofer Carlisle's clothes Saturday, they found a piece of white cord in his pocket similar to the cord wrapped around his dead wife's neck, according to court documents.
Police on Wednesday arrested Carlisle, 54, on a charge of first-degree intentional homicide, according to a news release from the Janesville Police Department. He is in custody at Mendota Mental Health Institute in Madison, Sgt. Todd Kleisner said.
Traci Moyer had white cord wrapped around her neck when police found her dead Saturday in Carlisle's home, according to search warrants filed in Rock County Court.
Moyer, 45, in November filed for divorce from Carlisle, according to online court records.
One of the most dangerous times for victims of domestic violence is when they try to leave their abusers, according to the police news release.
Police at 3:06 a.m. Saturday went to Carlisle's home, where they met Moyer's 18-year-old daughter. She was worried because her 13-year-old sister said Moyer hadn't picked her up from school Friday, according to the search warrants.
Moyer and her daughters recently had moved out of the home on Racine Street and into a different home in Janesville, Lt. Keith Lawver said.
On Saturday morning, Moyer's daughter tried to get into the house with her key, but the screen door was locked from the inside, she told police. She tried calling her mom, but realized Moyer's cellphone was in Moyer's car. The car was running in Carlisle's driveway, according to the search warrants.
When police entered the home, they found Moyer's body in a bedroom. Carlisle was next to her. He was unconscious and barely breathing, according to the warrants.
In the kitchen, police found sleeping pills and empty containers of two kinds of antidepressants.
Carlisle was taken to Mercy Hospital and Trauma Center in "medical distress," police said Saturday. Investigators were able to interview him for the first time Wednesday.
In a bedroom trashcan, police found several pieces of rope and duct tape. A 27-inch strip of duct tape was stuck on the wall in a hallway.
Spread out on the kitchen counter were documents, including the title for a motorcycle, certificates from Kay Jewelers, a birth certificate and a high school diploma, according to the warrants.
In the living room, they found another length of rope with loops tied on each end, according to the search warrants. Police found a roll of duct tape and a length of rope together on a basement half-wall, according to the search warrants.
They seized bedding from the bed on which Moyer was found, according to the search warrant. A rubber mallet, a knife, white rope and a roll of duct tape were also taken.
Police collected samples from the bodies of Moyer and Carlisle using sexual assault kits, according to the search warrant.
Moyer was born in Elgin, Ill., and was a 1984 Harvard High School graduate. She was a line worker at USG Interiors in Walworth, according to the paid obituary her family submitted to The Gazette.
She had three children, one grandchild and another grandchild on the way, according to the obituary.
Sgt. Chad Pearson, a member of the police department's domestic violence intervention team, said most of the homicides in Janesville have been incidents of domestic violence.
Team members review domestic cases and meet with victims a day or two after the incidents, Pearson said.
Officers bring information to help victims empower themselves, he said.
"We're not encouraging people to leave," Pearson said. "The point is to empower that person to know there are resources available so they can make their own educated decision."
Victims can be women or men, he said.
"The one point we always try to stress is that our help pertains to males and females," Pearson said. "When people hear ‘domestic violence' they usually think ‘women.' We have a large volume of males we've given assistance."
