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A 37-year-old man killed and mutilated his girlfriend and then lived with her remains for at least seven months, prosecutors say.
Matthew Gerard Lewinski was arrested and charged with murdering and mutilating his live-in girlfriend Jerri Winters in their Clinton Township, Michigan, home.
He allegedly strangled Winters to death in December and kept her corpse in the basement of their condo until his sister discovered the body in late July, according to the Macomb County Prosecutor's Office.
Lewinski reportedly admitted to strangling Winters during an argument in the living room, later moving her body to the basement, Assistant Macomb Prosecutor Sian Hengeveld told the Macomb Daily.
There, he removed "large portions of her skin from her back," Hengeveld said.
Neighbors reported an odor coming from the house for the past several weeks or months, believing an animal had died.
"I've smelled it for a while," one neighbor who did not want to be named told the Macomb Daily. "I would run from my car to here [indicating to her home] like this [demonstrating holding her shirt over her face]. A guy said maybe he needs to clean up his house. But I said that is not cleaning house, that is something dead."
Other neighbors reported that the pair could often be heard arguing.
Lewinski's sister discovered Winter's body July 28 on a tarp in the basement and called police, the assistant prosecutor said.
Lewinski was arrested and arraigned on July 30 in 41B District Court in Clinton Township, according to online records.
Assistant Prosecutor Hengeveld described the details involved as "a very gruesome case."
Lewinski has since been charged with first-degree murder/homicide, disinterment and mutilation of a dead body as well as concealing the death of an individual.
He is currently being held without bond with a probable cause hearing set for August 9, online records show,
Details on the case will not be publicly released, a representative for the Prosecutor's Office told the publication.
Newsweek has contacted the Macomb County Prosecutor's Office, the Macomb County Sheriff's Office and the Clinton Township Police Department for comment
In neighboring Indiana, a woman was recently accused of murdering her husband and forcing her two children to help dispose of his body.
Prosecutors allege that Thessalonica Allen, 34, shot Randy Allen inside their home in La Porte on July 27.
According to court documents, the two children told investigators they ran to their mother's bedroom after hearing a "loud bang" that night and found their father lying on the floor.
The children told investigators they were later awakened by their mother, who asked them to help drag Randy Allen's body out of the house and into a vehicle. They were unable to move the body because it was too heavy, the children said.
According to the court documents, the children told police that Thessalonica Allen came home the next day with an ax and cleaning supplies.
Police found Randy Allen's body inside a closet belonging to Thessalonica Allen's daughter.
Thessalonica Allen was charged with murder, abusing a corpse, altering a death scene, contributing to the delinquency of children and neglect.
