OZAUKEE COUNTY, Wis. (WLUC) – The Ozaukee County Sheriff’s Office revealed Friday that investigators have solved a cold case dating to 1959 involving the death of 7-year-old Chester Alfred Breiney, who was found in a culvert in Wisconsin after his parents moved. Chicago from Houghton County.

Sheriff’s Department officials detailed details of the case in a lengthy Facebook post stating that Breiney died as a direct result of torture and mistreatment at the hands of his adoptive parents.

According to investigators, the Mequon Police Department, assisted by the Ozaukee County Sheriff’s Office in processing evidence, conducted the initial investigation during which they learned that the Houghton County Sheriff’s Department was investigating a possible missing child, Markku Jutila.

Officials say Houghton County deputies were working with the Chicago Police Department after family members of William and Hilja Jutila became suspicious of the whereabouts of their adopted child. The Jutilas had moved from Houghton to Chicago and were unable to specify the whereabouts of their 6-year-old son, Markku. During the police interview, the couple admitted to fleeing Houghton for Chicago, dumping the child’s body in a ditch in Mequon before arriving in Chicago. The mother, Hilja Jutila, confessed to physically beating her son to death.

The sheriff’s office Facebook post details what happened next, stating: “The Jutilas were arrested by Chicago police and Houghton County investigators on March 28, 1966. During psychiatric evaluations of the Jutilas, they claimed that Markku had been ill and had been sent away. at home since kindergarten. The couple said Markku had been ill for several days before he was found dead in his bedroom. They claimed they were afraid of what happened and made the decision to leave their home for Chicago, throwing Markku to the side of the road along the way. Investigators with the Houghton County Sheriff’s Department contacted Mequon Police about the human remains located in the culvert and discovered they had similar characteristics to those of Markku Jutila. For this reason, along with statements to police provided by William and Hilja Jutila, the Jutilas were arrested and extradited to Houghton County for prosecution.

On November 10, 1966, the charges were dropped due to the lack of a corpus delicti and the prosecution’s inability to connect the skeleton of the child found in Mequon with the defendants.

The case remained undisturbed until October 2023, when officials from the Wisconsin Department of Justice – Division of Criminal Justice and the Madison State Crime Lab met with researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh. It was determined that investigators would attempt to identify the individual by using DNA extracted from the skull and conducting a genealogical investigation.

Investigators say that in September 2024, a genealogical investigation revealed, through a search of a public-source DNA database, that DNA extracted from the skull matched several members of the Breiney family, particularly Josephine Breiney, mother of Chester Breiney. All results of the genealogical investigation confirm that the skeletal remains belonged to Chester Alfred Breiney.

Investigators were unable to locate any photographs of Chester Alfred Breiney/Markku Jutila. DCI S/A Truli Nielsen performed a facial reconstruction from the remains of the skull to show what Chester looked like.

Since both people involved in this case, adoptive parents William and Hilja Jutila, died in 1988, no charges will be filed for the death of Chester Alfred Breiney. However, officials close to the case say Chester can now rest in peace since the truth about his death is known.

If you would like to make a donation in memory of 7-year-old Chester in lieu of flowers, donations can be sent to the Lakeshore Regional Child Advocacy Center (CAC) at https://www.lakeshorecac.org.

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