DeKalb man convicted of killing girlfriend, hiding body

SYCAMORE, Ill. (AP) - A northern Illinois judge has convicted a DeKalb man of beating and stabbing his girlfriend to death and then hiding her body in a closet.

DeKalb County Judge Robbin Stuckert found 22-year-old Michael G. Kulpin guilty Thursday of first-degree murder and other charges in the June 2016 killing of 19-year-old Moorea Des Roches. Kulpin is to be sentenced June 12. He faces 20 to 100 years in prison.

Prosecutors say Kulpin beat Des Roches with a frying pan and stabbed and slashed her 27 times until she bled to death. Her body was found in their apartment closet days later wrapped in a tablecloth, sheet and plastic shower curtain.

Defense attorney Dan Transier argued Kulpin should be found guilty of second-degree murder because he was provoked by suspicions Des Roches was cheating.