POLICE: Man Murders Woman With Electrical Cord, Threw her in Dumpster

RACINE -- A Racine man accused of murdering a female with an electrical cord, then storing her body in a refrigerator before throwing her in a dumpster has been charged in court.

Harry Fumich, 49, Racine, has been charged with First Degree Intentional Homicide, Hiding a Corpse and Robbery with Use of Force. Fumich faces life in prison.

Police Called about Murder, Body Found in Dump

Racine police were contacted on Tuesday morning just before 10 a.m. on a report that a person possessed knowledge regarding a homicide that occurred in the apartments above the Sunshine Supermarket at 1559 Taylor Ave.

According to the report, the person told police that a body had been thrown into a dumpster behind the Sunshine Supermarket and that the dumpster had just been taken by Waste Management.

Officers contacted Waste Management and traveled to the dump site at 16th and Oakes Road to find a body wrapped up in a dark-colored blanket that matched a description of the female victim.

The Murder

On the morning of October 4, Fumich invited the female victim up to his apartment. According to the complaint, Fumich said she "seemed to stir a lot of controversy" after he told police that she had "screwed him over money that he was owed, and that he provided her crack cocaine which she did not pay for."

According to the complaint, Fumich said he was tired of the female, and plotted to kill her by luring her to his apartment.

Fumich reportedly told police on the morning of October 4, that he lured the victim into his apartment, and into a back bedroom where he had an electrical cord prepared for the murder, the complaint said.

According to the complaint, Fumich told the female he had something to show her in the back bedroom. When they entered, Fumich reportedly wrapped the cord around her neck, and strangled her. In a short time, the female went limp and fell to the ground.

Fumich told police that he placed her body in the refrigerator, used a bed sheet to tie around the refrigerator, then spun the refrigerator around so the handle faced toward the wall.

According to the complaint, he rifled through the victim's pockets and retrieved approximately $87-87, and 9 methadone pills that he reportedly sold to a party at the Blue Rock bar.

After the murder, Fumich and another person left the apartment to acquire and use some crack cocaine, the complaint said.

The Cover Up

When Fumich returned to the apartment later that evening, he reportedly asked the other person to light incense because "the body was starting to smell. According to the criminal complaint, Fumich and another person pulled the body out of the refrigerator, and threw the body in the dumpster. Trash was then thrown over the body in the dumpster.

Fumich is currently being held in the Racine County Jail on a $500,000 cash bond. His preliminary hearing is scheduled for Oct. 12.

image: Racine County Jail