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[T] State v. Kupaza4/24/2003
. Peter Kupaza was convicted of first-degree intentional homicide, Wis. Stat. § 940.01(1) (1997-98), and hiding a corpse with intent to conceal a crime, Wis. Stat. § 940.11(2). The prosecutor presented evidence that Kupaza killed his cousin, Mwivano Mwambashi Kupaza, cut up her body, and disposed of the body parts in the Wisconsin River. Kupaza argues that the trial evidence was insufficient to sustain his convictions and that evidence relating to a trained dog, which allegedly detected large amounts of human blood residue in Kupaza's apartment, was improperly admitted. We conclude that the evidence was sufficient to support Kupaza's convictions and that any error in admitting evidence relating to the dog was harmless error. We affirm the convictions.
Background
. Kupaza and the victim, Mwivano, were first cousins and natives of Tanzania. Kupaza and Mwivano lived in neighboring houses in Tanzania, and Kupaza regarded Mwivano as his "sister." Kupaza emigrated to Wisconsin in 1993 and married Shari Goss shortly thereafter. Mwivano followed Kupaza to Wisconsin in January 1997, and moved into an apartment in Madison where Kupaza lived with his wife. Kupaza and Goss separated in the summer of 1997, and Kupaza and Mwivano moved out of the apartment. For a time, Kupaza and Mwivano lived together in Madison, but since April 1, 1999, Kupaza had been living by himself in an apartment on Pleasant View Road in Madison.
. On July 30 and 31, 1999, parts of Mwivano's body were found near the shore of the Wisconsin River. Her body had been defleshed and disarticulated, and her separate body parts had been placed inside a black duffel bag and several Woodman's plastic bags. Kupaza's ex-wife, Shari Goss, testified that the black duffel bag containing some of the body parts was a duffel bag she had given to Kupaza. Kupaza's ex-wife also testified that Kupaza regularly shopped at Woodman's grocery store and saved empty Woodman's plastic bags. In addition, a number of empty Woodman's plastic bags were found in Kupaza's apartment.
. Mwivano's body had been in the water approximately three days and it was not identified for approximately six months. Based on the body parts found, police were able to create a poster approximating the appearance of the victim. Copies of the poster were distributed. Kupaza's ex-wife saw one of the posters and informed the police that the poster resembled Mwivano. Acting on that tip, police investigators matched fingerprints from the body with prints lifted off documents handled by Mwivano and were able to establish her identity.
. On January 31, 2000, police interviewed Kupaza at his Pleasant View Road apartment. Kupaza told them that Mwivano had returned to Tanzania on April 25, 1999, and that he knew this was true because he confirmed her arrival in a phone call with Mwivano's father in Tanzania. Kupaza stated that Mwivano took a Greyhound bus to Iowa to meet a man named Shadrack, and that Mwivano planned to travel to Tanzania with Shadrack. Kupaza said that he did not know Shadrack's last name or how to contact Shadrack. Kupaza told the investigators that Mwivano had been living with Korean friends in Madison and that these friends left with Mwivano "to return to their home country via Iowa." Kupaza said he gave Mwivano $1,500 for her travel expenses. Kupaza initially told the police that Mwivano had never been to the Pleasant View Road apartment, but later in the interview he admitted that Mwivano had been there many times. When shown the poster depicting Mwivano, the same picture that Kupaza's ex-wife reported as looking like Mwivano, Kupaza stated that he did not recognize the picture, and that it did not resemble Mwivano.
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