Justice may finally come for the daughters of a woman who wasbrutally murdered while she was working alone at a Wisconsin creditunion branch 36 years ago.

Robin Mendez, 69, of Minocqua was arrested last week forallegedly murdering his wife, Barbara Mendez on April 28, 1982 atthe Park City Credit Union building that hadpreviously been located on Highway 51 in Minocqua.

According to a criminal complaint filed in Oneida County CircuitCourt in Rhinelander on Feb. 6, Mendez was charged withfirst-degree murder and could receive a life in prison sentence ifhe is convicted. During a local court hearing, he did not enter aplea. His bail was set at $250,000.

Although the branch has been closed and the murder case wentcold for more than three decades, it was never forgotten by policeand the 5,000 residents of Minocqua, a small town nestled in theNorthwoods forest in upper Wisconsin.

After reviewing boxes of documents, combing through the coldcase's details and re-interviewing 27 witnesses over the lastseveral months, an Oneida County Sheriff's Office investigativeteam produced a comprehensive probable cause report and submittedits findings to Oneida District Attorney Michael Schiek.

“The Oneida County Sheriff's Office and the Oneida CountyDistrict Attorney's Office have been working together for years toensure the person who did this is held accountable,” Schiek said.“We feel at this time, the evidence supports the arrest.”

One of the witnesses re-interviewed by investigators was HelenGray, who was the branch manager and worked with Barbara Mendez.During the day, Gray became sick and left the branch at about 1p.m. on April 28, leaving Mendez to work the rest of the afternoonalone.

Mendez knew how to close up the branch at 5 p.m., which includedsubmitting a balance sheet for the day, turning off the lights andlocking the doors and Mrs. Mendez car was still in the parkinglot.

At about 7:30 p.m., Gray received a phone call from Mr. Mendezwho said his wife did not show up for an evening church service. Heasked Gray to check on her at the credit union. When Gray arrivedat the branch, the doors were open.

When Gray walked up to the counter area, she spotted Mrs.Mendez's lifeless body and called police. Later she noticed Mrs.Mendez's deposit bag that contained $2,700 was missing but that thesafe was open and about $17,000 was plainly visible butuntouched.

An autopsy determined Mrs. Mendez died from multiple bluntinjuries, abrasions and laceration to the head with an extensiveskull fracture.

Investigators believe that the murderer used a pry bar to killthe 33-year-old credit union employee.

According the police documents, Gray never returned to work atthe credit union and had to see a doctor to cope with the trauma ofdiscovering Mrs. Mendez's body.

Last month, police also re-interviewed Mrs. Mendez's daughters,Dawn and Christy, who were 13 and 11, respectively, when theirmother was murdered.

The daughters told police they were manipulated by their fatherto give him a fake alibi for his whereabouts on the day the murderoccurred. They also said they confronted their father about it.

In addition to never denying that he killed his wife, thedaughters said their father promised he would someday tell themwhat happened to their mother, according to policeinvestigation.

“Christy said she reached out to her sister, Dawn, and theybegan to share their memories and realize[d] that their father hadmanipulated them as children so they would help him have an alibi,”according to the 36-page criminal complaint.

The daughters also told police investigators that their fathernever brought them to visit their mother's grave, and he neverpurchased a headstone.

Another shocking element to this case is that Mr. Mendez, aformer youth pastor at a local church, allegedly had a sexualrelationship with a 14-year-old girl who attended the same church.The relationship started about a year before the murder. She wasonly identified in police documents as Jodi.

While being re-interviewed by police investigators, she admittedto providing a false alibi for Mr. Mendez when she was initiallyinterviewed by law enforcement soon after the murder. Mr. Mendezappeared in a local court hearing on Feb. 6, but he did not enter aplea. His bail was set at $250,000.

“This is a 36-year old cold case that we are pleased to seereopened; we hope the findings provide some resolution for thefamily of Barbara Mendez,” the $182 million Park City CU said in a preparedstatement.

The Merrill-based credit union declined to comment on thecase.