Background: Matthew Lewinski at his sentencing (Law&Crime). Inset: Courtney “Jerri” Winters (Facebook).
A Michigan man convicted of killing his former girlfriend and hiding her remains in the basement of his condominium will spend the rest of his life behind bars.
Matthew Lewinski, 42, was sentenced Tuesday following his conviction on charges of first-degree murder, disinterment and mutilation of a dead body, and concealing the death of an individual, according to proceedings from his sentencing hearing. The victim, 52-year-old Courtney “Jerri” Winters, was Lewinski’s ex-girlfriend. Investigators discovered her remains in July 2021 in the basement of Lewinski’s condo in Clinton Township, Michigan. Authorities said Lewinski strangled Winters in an armchair inside the home in December 2020 after an argument between the former couple turned violent.
Law&Crime, which was present in court, reported that Macomb County Circuit Court Judge Rachel Rancilio underscored the disturbing nature of the case, telling those gathered, “I have never seen anything like this.”
Prosecutors previously said Lewinski and Winters had been separated for roughly a month when she arrived unexpectedly at his condo and told him she had undergone an abortion.
Winters sat in an armchair as Lewinski prepared tea in the kitchen, but the encounter soon deteriorated. What began as a verbal dispute escalated into a physical struggle, prosecutors said. Winters allegedly bit Lewinski, and he responded by strangling her until she became limp.
The case began to unravel months later, on July 27, 2021, when the condo association reached out to Lewinski’s sister, Debra Federico, after noticing the unit’s lights were on despite no one appearing to be home. Lewinski was hospitalized at the time after he had been found wandering the property in his underwear. Federico told the court that she and relatives entered the condo while searching for a ceramic Christmas decoration.
Instead, the family made a horrifying discovery in the basement and called police. Officers confirmed the presence of decomposing human remains belonging to a woman. The nude, mutilated body was found lying face down, and authorities said portions of skin appeared to have been removed.
Lewinski confessed to killing Winters when police interviewed him in the hospital.
Winters’ brother, Jeremy Winters, told the court, “A piece of us was taken by Matthew.”
Rancilio had much harsher words for Lewinski, who declined to speak at his sentencing. The judge told Lewinski, “Even after what you did, it was the aftermath of what you did. The hole and the trauma that you’ve created in this family is … I’ve never seen anything like it. They have to live with this now, knowing that their loved one was treated in this fashion postmortem, and that you caused it. You caused her death.”
She added, “I don’t know where that lack of humanity comes from. I don’t know how you can live knowing that you have done this to someone in this kind of heinous, horrendous way.”
Lewinski was sentenced to life in prison without parole plus 23 to 120 months for the disinterment charge. He was ordered not to have any contact with the Winters family.
