THE mysterious death of a beloved mother has been cracked as police arrest and charge her ex-boyfriend in connection with her killing. Nicholas Matzen, 35, the ex-boyfriend and father of Emily Rogers’ one-year-old child, was arrested on Wednesday. Matzen has been charged with first-degree reckless homicide and hiding a corpse. Emily, 23, was last seen […]
THE mysterious death of a beloved mother has been cracked as police arrest and charge her ex-boyfriend in connection with her killing.
Nicholas Matzen, 35, the ex-boyfriend and father of Emily Rogers’ one-year-old child, was arrested on Wednesday.
Matzen has been charged with first-degree reckless homicide and hiding a corpse.
Emily, 23, was last seen on April 26 and was reported missing four days later after her friend could not communicate with her.
Meanwhile, Matzen was arrested on April 17 on an unrelated matter and released on April 27.
Emily’s lifeless body turned up nine days later in a wooded area behind a building near an industrial park in St Francis, Wisconsin.
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Police immediately suspected foul play and claim Matzen killed Emily and dumped her body in St. Francis.
According to a criminal complaint contained by Fox 6, Matzen admitted to a friend that he killed Emily.
The complaint claims that Matzen told the unidentified person, “I f***** up, I hurt her,” and allegedly told the person Emily was dead.
Matzen allegedly told the person he had broke Emily’s neck, per the complaint.
The man reportedly told police that Matzen “lost it” when Emily said she was leaving him, the complaint said.
Another man allegedly told police he helped Matzen wrap Emily’s body in a rug and tie it with an extension cord.
Investigators found Rogers’ body hidden under a discarded Christmas tree near a retention pond.
The complaint said an autopsy showed ligature marks on Emily’s neck. The mother’s cause of death was ruled as asphyxia in the manner of homicide.
Her daughter, who vanished as well, has since been found safe and unharmed, Emily’s dad Terry Rogers exclusively told The US Sun.
“We got the call that she was missing for four days on Saturday, and we thought it was suspicious right away. It’s unusual for her not to stay in contact with us,” Terry said.
“Emily was such a happy, young lady. She loved her daughter, and they were inseparable … There wasn’t a bad bone in her body. She loved her family and friends and loved to make everyone laugh.”
Terry and his wife drove from Texas, where they live, to Milwaukee, where Emily moved to start a new job. Her dad said she had recently found her own place to rent, and her life was taking off.
“When we got here (to Milwaukee), we got a call from police that they located baby Katie,” he said.
The doting grandparents were granted custody the day after they arrived in Milwaukee.
“She’s a very happy baby; she’s just like her mother. She’s so young, so she won’t remember a lot of this, hopefully,” Terry said.
Terry and his family are God-fearing, religious people who are holding each other together.
He’s grateful that they found his granddaughter alive and have Emily’s body for closure.
To the killer, he said, “They’re going to have to live with this the rest of their life. If they care, I don’t know, but it’s on their souls.
“I hope they’re haunted. I hope they can’t sleep, and when they sleep, I hope they see what they did over and over.”
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Matzen is being held in the Milwaukee County Jail on $500,000 cash bail.
If convicted, he faces up to 60 years in prison.
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