Man Previously Convicted of Killing His Own Father Charged in Separate 49-Year-Old Cold Case

Mugshot of cold case murder suspect and convicted killer James Terry Fowler from WAFF.com.

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James Terry Fowler, 68, has been arrested in connection with a 1977 Kenosha, Wisconsin cold case murder. The arrest came after DNA lifted from the victim’s nails tied him to the murder.

What Happened

On September 7, 1977, Ralph Ambrose Gianoli was found dead in his Kenosha, Wisconsin home by a friend. The friend had last seen Ralph two days earlier on September 5 at a local bar they frequented. When Ralph didn’t show up for work at American Motors or answer his door for others, the friend went to check on him. What the friend saw made him sick, and he called for help.

When Kenosha police got to the house on 25th Avenue, they saw broken glass and upturned furniture throughout the house. It had been a violent struggle. Police found blood spatter in both the living room and the bedroom, letting them know Ralph had fought his attacker across the house. They even found blood on the outside of the front door. This could have meant the fight started in or almost bled out into the streets. And the police found Ralph’s body in a terrible state.

The police located Ralph’s naked body and saw that the attacker had beaten him badly. He had blunt force trauma to his head and belly, and there was an electrical cord still wrapped around his neck. It was brutal, but Ralph’s brother wouldn’t let his death go without justice.

Ralph’s brother was actually the Sheriff of Marathon County at the time. The pressure on Kenosha PD to solve the murder of a fellow officer’s brother was real. They followed every lead, but back in 1977, “touch DNA” technology didn’t exist. “Touch DNA” is also known as trace DNA and requires only small samples for testing. Being unable to process the DNA frustrated the justice system but not forever.

The Reopening of the Case

As FOX6 News Milwaukee reports, the case of Ralph Gianoli was cold until October 2021. Then, Kenosha’s Cold Case unit used new technology to test the trace DNA found underneath Ralph’s fingernails. Ralph had literally scratched his killer and held onto that evidence for 49 years. An arrest was looming.

The DNA led them to James Fowler in Memphis. However, he was a graduate of Great Lakes Naval Base, and the police needed more corroborating evidence. His service records played a key part in confirming his whereabouts at the time of the murder. They also tracked down witnesses and did interviews. Five years later, the police were ready to make an arrest.

When police arrested Fowler on March 30, 2026, it finally explained why he “disappeared” after the murder. He was a 19-year-old Navy recruit in 1977 just wandering through life. His life after the murder of Ralph was even darker and more violent.

In 1983, James Fowler found himself in Huntsville, Alabama living with his father who used a wheelchair. It had been six years since Fowler had killed Ralph, but he was still a killer. During his stay with his father, months later, the killer came out of Fowler again.

During an argument with his father, Fowler shot him several times. He was arrested for that murder without incident. In an epic failure of the justice system, he served just 5 years before being let out. He’s being held currently on a $1.5-million bail. The main question is, why does a once-convicted murderer have a bail at all?

The Takeaway

James Fowler is expected to appear in a Shelby County in Memphis for court within the next day or two. There, he will either agree to leave Tennessee to face trial in Wisconsin, or the State will motion to extradite him. Either way, he will be standing trial for what many thought was an unsolvable cold case. This case shows that time doesn’t forget, and neither does DNA. Watch the Cold Case Press Release by the Kenosha Police Department.

Jermaine Reed, MFA is an educator and the Editor-in-Chief of TheReedersBlock. Take time to Subscribe. It helps promote independent journalism and the site. Follow him on TikTok, where he has over 9 million views and nearly 1 million likes. Help him get there.

NO HUSTLE LIKE HERS