Decomposing body of woman who was strangled to death and had flesh taken from her back found after shock confession
THE decomposing body of a woman, who was strangled to death and had her back skin removed, was discovered after a confession.
Matthew Gerard Lewinski, 38, was found wandering in his underwear near his Michigan home last July 26 and taken to hospital.
A day later the body of his girlfriend Courtney “Jerri” Winters was found in his basement, where it had reportedly been stored for seven months, according to
Joseph Federico, Lewinski's brother-in-law, testified that he discovered Winters' decomposing body in the basement bathroom of the condo she and Lewinski once shared.
Federico was in the basement initially looking for Christmas decorations for his wife, Debra Lewinski.
"I saw something on the floor and I didn't know what it was," Federico said in court reported.
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When officers were called to the alleged crime scene, they saw blood stains on the carpet.
The murder reportedly took place just before Christmas 2020, after Winters came returned to their condo. The former couple got into an argument that turned physical, Fox News reported.
Lewinski said an argument ensued, he was slapped over something she found on his phone and then he slapped her back, according to The Detroit News.
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He told police that he then choked Winters for approximately five minutes before she stopped moving, Fox News reported.
Thinking she was dead, Lewinski allegedly moved her body to the basement bathroom where he removed large sections of her back skin.
One detective at the scene, Michael Chirco, described the body as "very, very dark and discolored and decomposed."
"A large portion of the flesh of the back from the base of the neck across the shoulders and around the torso all the way down to just above the buttocks area had been removed," Chirco said during the hearing.
"And you could see the internal organs ... the tissues of the body and the skeleton."
Neighbors had noticed a foul order the weeks after the alleged incident.
Lewinski reportedly confessed to strangling her to death when questioned by cops in his hospital bed - before his Miranda rights were ever read, Macomb Daily reported.
At this point, officers had him sign a Miranda Waiver form, a document used to signify a person has given up their Miranda rights, reported.
The judge overseeing the hearing said that the officers that arrested him should have read him his rights but there was still enough evidence to prosecute Lewinski.
He appeared in court on Thursday to partake in a preliminary hearing, that included testimonies from family members and officers at the scene.
Lewinski is being held without bond and is scheduled to court on June 27.
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He has been charged with first-degree murder, mutilation of a body, and concealing the death of a person.
He could be sentenced to life in prison.
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