User:TRCRF22/Murder of Alisha Bromfield

In August 2010, Alisha N. Bromfield-Anicich (August 28, 1990 – August 18, 2012), a pregnant 21-year-old woman from Illinois, was strangled to death by her manager Brian Cooper at a hotel in Door County, Wisconsin. Cooper then sexually assaulted Bromfield's corpse. Following the murder, Cooper called the police from a nearby filling station and gave a detailed confession to killing Bromfield, which he then repeated when interviewed in police custody. Cooper was charged with the intentional homicide of Bromfield and her viable unborn child and sexual assault of a corpse.

At his initial trial in June 2013, Cooper was found guilty of third-degree sexual assault, but the jury was unable to reach a verdict on the murder charges. He was retried in May 2014 and found guilty on all counts, with a sentence of two consecutive life terms. Bromfield's family subsequently sued both Bromfield and Cooper's employer Grand Flower Growers and The Home Depot for wrongful death on the grounds that both companies had ignored complaints by Bromfield about Cooper's inappropriate sexual behavior. The suit was dismissed in June 2015, but a federal appeals court later reversed the decison.

Following Cooper's first trial, public outcry at the fact that Cooper had avoided conviction resulted in Wisconsin abolishing the defense of voluntary intoxication, which Cooper had raised and which was seen as having led to the wrong result.

Background
Alisha N. Bromfield-Anicich was a 21-year-old student at Western Illinois University. At the time of her murder she was only one year away from graduating with a degree in forensic psychology and criminal justice. She was also six months pregnant with a daughter, who she had decided to name Ava Lucille. Bromfield was employed by Grand Flower Growers, a florist that regularly supplied flowers to retail corporation Home Depot in Plainfield, Illinois.

Brian Cooper was Bromfield's supervisor at her employment. He allegedly became fixated on Bromfield and used his position to harass her, denying her lunch breaks if he believed she would be interacting with other men and telling others that the two of them were in a relationship. Other female employees had also accused him of sexual harassment. Bromfield complained to management about Cooper's actions but was ignored.

In August of 2012, Bromfield accepted an invitation from Cooper to attend his sister's wedding in Sturgeon Bay. According to her family, she was afraid that she would lose her job if she turned Cooper down.