DeKalb man guilty of killing girlfriend from St. Charles
A 22-year-old DeKalb man was convicted Thursday of murdering a former St. Charles woman and hiding her body in their apartment closet.
DeKalb County Judge Robbin Stuckert found Michael G. Kulpin guilty of first-degree murder, concealment of a homicide and aggravated domestic battery in the June 2016 murder of his 19-year-old girlfriend, Moorea Des Roches.
The couple had a 1-year-old son.
Kulpin will be sentenced June 12 and faces a prison term of 20 to 100 years.
Stuckert rejected an argument from defense attorney Dan Transier that Kulpin should be found guilty of second-degree murder, punishable by up to 15 years in prison.
In closing arguments, Assistant State's Attorney Scott Schwertley cited Kulpin's violent past and recounted how Kulpin was stewing in their apartment all day on June 3, 2016, after Des Roches went to work and refused his offer of a ride.
The two argued in the morning and again when she returned to their apartment on the 900 block of Kimberly Lane. Kulpin became violent, Schwertley said, pushing Des Roches down and beating her head with a frying pan with such force that the pan was dented.
After she regained consciousness, he stabbed and slashed her 27 times until the knife handle broke and she ultimately bled to death.
"This case is about control, about the defendant's need to control Moorea and how he used violence to show that control," Schwertley said. "The fact that there are three separate instances where the defendant is pushing, striking and stabbing Moorea goes to his intent to kill her."
Des Roches' body was found in a closet in their apartment wrapped in a tablecloth, sheet and plastic shower curtain days later when police conducted a well-being check. Schwertley noted Des Roches' DNA matched blood found on the pan and Kulpin gave police several differing statements about what happened.
Transier acknowledged that Kulpin killed Des Roches, but argued his client was guilty of second-degree murder. Transier said Kulpin acted under a strong provocation because he suspected her of cheating on him and the two were physically fighting that night.
Transier also noted Kulpin, who did not testify at his four-day trial, told police he was bipolar and under the influence of heroin when questioned by police.
"These are all questions that go to the defendant's state of mind," Transier said.
First Assistant State's Attorney Stephanie Klein noted that previous court rulings show a person must be caught in the act of cheating for a court to consider a second-degree murder charge.
Also, the argument between Kulpin and Des Roches was far from a fight on "equal terms" - he had no injuries and the forensic pathologist who performed Des Roches' autopsy needed two sheets to diagram all of her external injuries, Klein said.
During questioning by police, Kulpin said he and Des Roches' "loved each other more than anything."
"This is not love," said Klein, showing the judge the bent frying pan and autopsy photos. "This is power. It is control, and it is first-degree murder."