An East Chicago man has been charged after strangling his ex-girlfriend to death, records allege.
Miguel A. Terry, 31, of East Chicago, is charged with murder, aggravated battery, two counts of stalking, one count of domestic battery resulting in serious bodily injury, domestic battery in violation of a protection order, strangulation, resisting law enforcement and auto theft.
He is also charged with three misdemeanors: invasion of privacy, resisting law enforcement and operating a motor vehicle without ever receiving a license.
He is in custody, held without bail. A public defender was appointed Wednesday. His next hearing is Oct. 14.
Hammond Police Det. Sgt. Jeff Miller wrote he responded just before 4 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 5, to the 1300 block of Summer Street.
Family asked officers to do a welfare check on Kimberly Murphy, 37, after she didn’t meet them for her son’s 8 a.m. sports game in Frankfort, Ill.
Her car was gone.
Family members told a patrol officer her cell phone was pinging at the house. When the landlord unlocked the door, after an initial search, they found nothing. When they looked again for the second time, they found Murphy’s nude body in the closet, which had been blocked by a dresser.
She was covered with pillows and luggage, according to the affidavit. The room had a strong bleach odor.
In the bedroom, a mattress was flipped against a wall. Someone sprayed bed bug spray over the bed frame and covered it with a blanket. Her cell phone was in the living room, between sofa cushions.
Paramedics told police that rigor mortis already set in – meaning she was dead for at least a few hours.
Investigators found a brown or red “substance” on the kitchen floor and in the bedroom, toilet, bathroom floor, sink and bathtub. Police found “numerous potential weapons” – a wood sliver, knife and leather strap.
Lake County Coroner’s Office Forensic Pathologist Zhou Wang said she was strangled to death. She was also beaten on the head and scalp. Her death was ruled a homicide.
Police records showed she called the cops multiple times from March to October for Terry, who violated his April 2 protection order.
In March, he allegedly broke into her home. She called police on Aug. 7, when she came home from hanging out with friends and found him lying in her bed.
On Oct 4 – the day before her death – she heard a noise, then saw Terry running away toward an alley, records state.
After a short pursuit, Terry was arrested just after 7:20 p.m. with her white Chevrolet Impala after he got out and ran. His Nokia cell phone and identification card were inside. He was bruised and had various scratches.
Police tracked her car with license plate readers. It was later in East Chicago just before 5:30 a.m. on the way to Terry’s apartment, police concluded.
Terry told police he walked to her home from his relative’s Hessville house. He took her car without permission without seeing her, claiming she left the keys inside. Then, he drove to get his nephew a haircut in East Chicago.
He claimed he was driving to Griffith to buy a lawnmower when police arrested him. He tried to flee from the cops, because he didn’t have a driver’s license, he said.
Terry told police he bounced around between friends and claimed he got evicted in September. He told them his phone was cut off Oct. 5. Police asked if anyone had hurt her.
“I don’t think so, not from me,” he said.
They told him she was dead.
“No, she isn’t,” he said several times.
Terry claimed he was drunk and didn’t remember. Officers said he put his head down and alleged he pretended to cry before asking for a lawyer.
When police executed a search warrant at Terry’s apartment, they found bloody jeans and white powder similar to what they found in Murphy’s bedroom.
mcolias@post-trib.com