Investigators say multiple fires, an autopsy and building surveillance led them to the victim’s son, Rodolfo Gonzalez.
NEW LONDON, Wis. — Firefighters responding to smoke at a New London apartment building on July 26 encountered something authorities say was more than a fatal fire: a woman was dead inside a fifth-floor unit, several separate fires had been started, and injuries on her body quickly pointed investigators toward a homicide case.
Within days, prosecutors charged the woman’s 39-year-old son, Rodolfo Gonzalez, with first-degree intentional homicide and four other crimes. The case developed from several types of evidence rather than from the fire scene alone. Investigators relied on observations inside the apartment, an autopsy that established the woman’s cause of death, surveillance video from the building and evidence collected after Gonzalez was found later that day. Authorities allege he killed his mother before deliberately setting fires in the apartment. Gonzalez has not been convicted, and a judge has since ordered a competency evaluation before the prosecution proceeds further.
The first indications of trouble came from Franklin Park Apartments on Division Street. Emergency crews responded to a report of smoke and traced it to a fifth-floor apartment. Fire personnel extinguished at least three separate fires, according to the criminal complaint. They also found an unresponsive woman lying on a bed. Authorities noted injuries to her chest and neck as well as cat litter around her head. One of the fires had been set on the bed close to the victim’s body. The woman was pronounced dead. Reports based on court records have not publicly identified her by name, although authorities have described her as Gonzalez’s mother.
The presence of multiple ignition points was one reason investigators treated the fire as suspicious. A single accidental fire can spread within a room or building, but investigators reported finding three separately set fires inside this apartment. Authorities later alleged that those fires were not the cause of the woman’s death but were started afterward. That distinction came from the autopsy, which determined that she died from multiple sharp-force injuries to the neck. Investigators said there was no soot in her lungs and no carbon monoxide in her blood, findings that led them to conclude she was already dead when the fires were started.
That medical conclusion gave investigators a chronology that prosecutors have incorporated into their theory of the case. According to the complaint, the wounds caused the woman’s death first, and the fires came later. Investigators have alleged the fires were intended to conceal the homicide. The reports reviewed for this story do not identify a stated motive for the killing itself, however, and authorities have not publicly described evidence showing why Gonzalez would have wanted his mother dead. The allegation of concealment concerns the purpose of the fires after the death and should not be confused with a documented motive for the underlying homicide.
Investigators also turned to the apartment building’s surveillance system. The criminal complaint says video showed Gonzalez on the fifth floor around the time the fires were set. That footage placed him in the area but was only one part of the evidence described publicly. Gonzalez, who authorities said lived with his mother, was no longer at the apartment when officers sought him. Several hours later, law enforcement located him sitting on a bench near an elementary school. Officers moved to arrest him, and authorities said he resisted. Deputies ultimately placed him in additional restraints before taking him into custody.
Police reported finding two lighters on Gonzalez, along with a Bible. Other reporting based on the complaint described multiple cellphones and items collected from Gonzalez or the area where he was located. The presence of lighters is included in the public account because investigators were examining intentionally set fires, although whether and how the items will be used as evidence is a matter for the court. Prosecutors must still establish the connection between Gonzalez and each charged crime under the applicable burden of proof. The criminal complaint sets out probable cause allegations; it is not a verdict.
Waupaca County prosecutors charged Gonzalez with first-degree intentional homicide, first-degree recklessly endangering safety, arson of a building, mutilating a corpse and resisting or obstructing an officer. The reckless-endangerment and arson allegations reflect the broader danger prosecutors say was created by setting fires in an occupied apartment building. Public reports have focused most heavily on the homicide and the condition of the apartment where the woman was found, but the charging decision treats the alleged fires as separate criminal conduct with risks beyond the death itself.
The investigation also uncovered a major piece of history that did not originate at the July crime scene. Gonzalez was already facing an attempted first-degree intentional homicide charge in Outagamie County from a Feb. 23, 2025, incident involving the same woman. In that earlier case, authorities alleged he attacked his mother and another man with a rock and a knife. Gonzalez was found not competent to proceed to trial in that prosecution. The case was therefore suspended rather than adjudicated, leaving the underlying accusations unresolved. His release from custody was approved in May 2026 under conditions that included cooperation with treatment and evaluations.
That earlier competency finding has now become relevant to the July prosecution. At an Aug. 13 review hearing in the new Waupaca County case, Gonzalez’s lawyer raised concerns about his current competency. Judge Troy Nielsen ordered competency proceedings and a new evaluation. A preliminary hearing that had been scheduled for Aug. 17 was removed from the court calendar. The legal question is whether Gonzalez presently understands the proceedings and can assist his lawyer. It is separate from whether he committed the charged acts, and the answer can change over time as a defendant’s condition changes.
The competency ruling changes the immediate sequence of the case because the court must resolve Gonzalez’s ability to proceed before returning to the normal pretrial process. If he is found competent, prosecutors can continue pursuing the homicide and related charges. If he is found not competent, the case can be paused while the court follows procedures designed to address treatment and possible restoration. Publicly available reporting reviewed through Aug. 30 did not identify a completed competency determination in the new case or a replacement date for the preliminary hearing.
Meanwhile, the physical and medical evidence outlined in the complaint remains at the center of the prosecution’s allegations. Authorities say the separate fires support a finding of deliberate ignition, the autopsy indicates the victim died before those fires, and surveillance video places Gonzalez on the relevant floor of the building near the time of the incident. Investigators also point to the items recovered when he was arrested. Defense attorneys will have the opportunity to challenge the interpretation, admissibility and weight of that evidence if the case reaches those stages.
The victim’s identity and a motive remain among the significant details not publicly established in the reports reviewed. Authorities have described her relationship to Gonzalez and the circumstances in which she was found, but they have not released a public account explaining what led to the alleged attack inside the apartment that day. No public trial evidence has yet been tested before a jury. For now, the case remains an allegation built from a fire scene that investigators say revealed evidence of an earlier killing.
Gonzalez remained reported in the Waupaca County Jail on a $1 million cash bond as the competency process moved forward. The July 26 emergency call, which began as a response to smoke in an apartment building, has consequently produced both a homicide prosecution and a renewed legal examination of Gonzalez’s ability to face criminal proceedings. His guilt or innocence has not been determined.
Author note: Last updated Aug. 30, 2026.