Former St. Charles Man Guilty Of Stabbing Girlfriend to Death

DEKALB, IL – A former St. Charles East High School student now faces up to 100 years in prison after a judge found him guilty Thursday of first-degree murder for killing his girlfriend and hiding her body in a closet. DeKalb County Judge Robbin Stuckert also found Michael G. Kulpin guilty of concealment of a homicide and aggravated domestic battery during a sentencing hearing on Thursday. Stucker rejected Kulpin's defense attorney's argument that the 22-year-old DeKalb man should instead be convicted on a second-degree murder charge for the murder of his 19-year-old girlfriend Moorea Desroches, according to the Daily Herald.

Police found Desroches body in the bedroom closet of her apartment in DeKalb on June 3, 2016. Police said a verbal argument between the couple that weekend turned violent and lead to Kulpin beating and stabbing Desroches.

Authorities said Kulpin used a frying pan to beat his teen girlfriend over the head, and ended up denting the pan, and then slashed and stabbed her 27 times until the handle on his knife broke, the Daily Herald reports. The young woman bled to death.

The couple have a 1-year-old son together, the Daily Herald reports. Kulpin will be sentenced on June 12 and faces between 20 and 100 years in prison.

Kulpin had a history of violence and of violent behavior with Moorea.

"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."

More via the Daily Herald

• Man Accused of Killing Girlfriend Had History of Violent, Criminal Activity in St. Charles