Nathan Middleton, the man who investigators say admitted to burning the corpse of a young Fitchburg woman in a backyard fire pit, had pleas of not guilty on three felony charges entered for him by a judge Tuesday in Rock County Court.
The Wisconsin State Journal reports that the 29-year-old Evansville man stood mute with his attorney, as a judge entered the pleas to charges of mutilating a corpse, hiding a corpse and attempted escape. A trial date will be scheduled at a hearing on March 6.
Middleton admitted to Rock County investigators that he burned the body of 18-year-old Aprina Paul after he found Paul dead in his bed the morning of October 28th. According to a criminal complaint, Middleton met Paul on the Internet, paid her to have sex with him and watched her take drugs. Rock County Sheriff Bob Spoden has said that further forensic analysis of bones found near the fire pit may yet determine whether Paul was murdered.
The escape charge was added last month. According to a criminal complaint, Middleton sent a letter to his mother, asking her to search online for information on how to make a bomb, and then blow up the side of the Rock County Jail. The letter also asked his mother to get a rental car and to steal a set of license plates, to help aid in an escape to Mexico. He wrote that he knew people in Mexico who could help them.