Boyfriend pleads not guilty to killing girlfriend and hiding her body

A Kenosha detective testified in a preliminary hearing Tuesday morning against a  man accused of killing his girlfriend and driving the body to Chicago.



Matthew McDowell, 40, pleaded not guilty to first degree intentional homicide and hiding a corpse.



He is being accused of killing his girlfriend  Erin Ziemendorf, 30, and hiding her body in the trunk of her car. 



McDowell told police it all started with a fight he and Erin were having on Friday, October 25th.


\"When he woke up the next morning the argument continued. Erin was in his face and bumping his chest and picked up a corkscrew, which at some point was dropped or at least no longer used. Then Ms. Ziemendorf grabbed on to his ribs and  they began to roll on the bed where Erin's fingers were in his eyes. His hands  were on her face and neck, as they were there he felt her hands leave his face and he heard a crack,\" said Det. James Beller.




The criminal complaint states, McDowell blacked out during the fight, and when he woke up he noticed Erin was unconscious. He told his brother, Brian McDowell, 'he freaked out, so he put her body in her car in the front seat then transferred her body to the truck and drove to Chicago, leaving her vehicle and her body in the trunk.'


He took the train to Kenosha and turned himself in on Sunday, October 27th with his brother.


\"They spoke with an open records clerk and indicated that they wanted to report an accidental death,\" said  Beller.

 

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