Emily Rogers’s ex-boyfriend has been charged with her death last month — on the day he got out of jail in connection with a misdemeanor hit-and-run case.
Rogers, 23, was found dead on May 5 near a retention pond in a Milwaukee suburb, nine days after she was last seen at her Milwaukee home, as CrimeOnline previously reported.
The criminal complaint filed against Nicholas Matzen, who was also the father of Rogers’s child says that he was released from jail on April 27, the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reported. Rogers knew he was about to be released and told friends she planned to break up with him.
Matzen showed up at her home, the document says, and Rogers texted friends to say she’d done it. One asked she was OK, and Rogers replied, “Not exactly.” When the friend asked what happened, Rogers texted back, “I’ll call you in a minute. If I can.”
She never called. She was ultimately reported missing on April 30, launching a desperate search for her.
Matzen, 35, has been charged with first-degree reckless homicide and hiding a corpse. He has denied the charges, but two friends told investigators Matzen “lost it” and strangled Rogers when she broke up with him.
Shortly after finding Rogers’s body, police said they’d taken “multiple people” into custody. The complaint against Madsen implicates at least one other person — connected with hiding the body — but so far charges have been filed only against him.
Matzen appeared in court on Wednesday and was ordered held on a $500,000 bail.
The suspect was found with a visible scratch on his face, which he said came from a dog, although neither he nor Rogers had a dog. Investigators also falsely told him they had surveillance footage showing him carrying a body out the back door, but he claimed it was a 400-pound sex doll. He would not say where it was.
For the latest true crime and justice news, subscribe to the ‘Crime Stories with Nancy Grace’ podcast.
