Prosecutors Said He Strangled His Girlfriend With Her Purse Strap Before Hiding Body in Woods. Now He’s Been Found Guilty

A Wisconsin man has been convicted of killing his longtime girlfriend and concealing her body in the woods.

On Tuesday, Nov. 4, Matthew Pahl, 57, was found guilty of first-degree intentional homicide and hiding a corpse in connection with the death of Stephanie Pavlons.

“Justice has been served in the tragic and senseless murder of Stephanie Pavlons,” Waukesha County District Attorney Lesli Boese said in a statement. “The jury’s swift verdict, reached in just over an hour, reflects the strength and clarity of the evidence presented. We are grateful for their service and hope the decision brings a measure of peace and closure to Stephanie’s loved ones.”

According to TMJ4, prosecutors argued that Pahl killed Pavlons in 2022 after she decided to end their relationship. They alleged he strangled her with her own purse strap, though investigators were unable to determine the exact cause of death due to the decomposition of her remains.

“Mr. Pahl was a violent and abusive partner,” prosecutor Kristi Gordon told the jury, according to the outlet. “He killed Ms. Pavlons because she was trying to leave him — something he couldn’t let happen.”

The couple had been together for over 20 years and shared a child, The Waukesha Freeman reported.

Pavlons’ remains were discovered on Sept. 9, 2022, by a construction worker in a wooded area. Surveillance footage later showed Pavlons leaving her apartment on Aug. 23, 2022, around 8:39 a.m., carrying a black purse with silver chains and a large pink water bottle. Pahl was seen exiting the same building about a minute later and returning around 11:15 a.m., carrying what appeared to be the same water bottle. Roughly an hour after that, he was observed with a plastic shopping bag containing Pavlons’ purse.

Investigators noted that the metal links from her purse were visible in the bag as Pahl entered the building. Pavlons was never seen returning home after that.

According to the criminal complaint, investigators later found Pavlons’ daily planner in the apartment she shared with Pahl. In one entry dated July 8, 2021, she wrote: “Another depressing & physically abusing day. I think he likes to do it even though he says he doesn’t. Hate my life.” The following day she recorded, “Got hit hard which left a nice mark on my chest, got a nice scar along with it.”

Photos from Pavlons’ phone reportedly showed images of her with a bruised and swollen eye and a red mark on her chest, consistent with the abuse described in her journal.

When questioned on Sept. 17, 2022, Pahl claimed he hadn’t seen Pavlons in weeks and alleged she had been threatening suicide. He was formally charged a year later, in September 2023.

According to FOX6, prosecutors acknowledged the case was circumstantial — there was no DNA evidence, no confirmed cause of death, and no eyewitnesses. However, cellphone records played a crucial role, showing that Pahl deleted nearly a thousand messages and that both his and Pavlons’ phones had pinged in the same area where she was last seen alive.

Prosecutors also said Pahl monitored police scanners and online obituaries, a detail his defense attorney, Peter Wolff, downplayed as not unusual. “If I was worried about someone, I’d do the same thing,” Wolff told the court, per FOX6.

Prosecutor Kristi Gordon countered, saying, “He thinks he’s covering his trail — but he didn’t know that we could look through her phone, find things he deleted. We’re smarter than him.” She added that Pahl believed he was “the smartest man in the room.”

Pahl’s sentencing is scheduled for Tuesday, Nov. 11.