Mysteries of the 715: The Murder of Richard Scott

On March 1, 1984, Eau Claire realtor Richard Scott was murdered while showing a house in the Town of Wheaton. While rumors and speculation has surfaced over the years, it’s a murder case that has gone unsolved for over 40 years in the Chippewa Valley.

Here’s what has been reported to of happened to Richard Scott that day.

According to the book “Cold Cases of West-Central Wisconsin”, Richard received a call from an individual named Warren Preston. Warren was from Milwaukee and he was in town and wanted to see a couple of houses. One house was south of Eau Claire near Highway 93 and the other was a home in the Town of Wheaton.

Richard apparently agreed to pickup Warren from his motel to show him these houses. A couple of days later, a co-worker found Richard Scott’s body in the house in Wheaton after he didn’t show up for work and the co-worker checked his showing logs for the weekend. Richard had been shot in the back of the head.

Richards car was later found in a public parking lot on Graham Ave in downtown Eau Claire.

A neighbor had witnessed Richard and another man show up to the house. A few minutes later, he said he thought he heard someone slam the garage door and saw one person walk away.

And over 40 years later, we still don’t have all the answers. Was Warren Preston actually someone named Warren Preston? Why would someone want to murder Richard Scott?

If you have any information, give the Chippewa County Sherrifs Office a call at (715) 726‑7701.