ST. PAUL, Minnesota) — A 45-year-old man from St. Paul has been sentenced to 30 years in a state correctional facility for the murder of his girlfriend. Matthew Phillip Ecker was convicted by a jury on one count of second-degree murder for shooting 32-year-old Alexandra L. Pennig in the head and then attempting to stage the scene to make it appear as a suicide.
Ecker, a former emergency room nurse practitioner, was married at the time of the incident and had four children with his wife. The Pioneer Press reported that Ecker claimed Pennig knew about his family but did not care. However, his wife was unaware of the relationship and has since divorced him.
On December 16, 2022, officers from the St. Paul Police Department responded to a 911 call made by Ecker, who reported that his girlfriend had shot herself in the head just minutes prior. When investigators arrived at the apartment complex, they found Pennig lying on her back in the bathroom with a gunshot wound to the left side of her head.
However, several inconsistencies in Ecker’s account raised suspicion. The blood in the bathroom had already dried and coagulated by the time the police arrived, despite Ecker’s claim that Pennig had shot herself minutes earlier. Additionally, there was a split in the wood near the bathroom door lock, suggesting forced entry.
Ecker initially claimed that Pennig had taken her own life and that he had tried to provide medical assistance before calling 911. But as police dug deeper, Ecker’s story changed multiple times, including contradictions about his whereabouts and his actions after the shooting. Eventually, Ecker admitted to putting the gun back in his bag and later placing it on Pennig’s chest.
In her sentencing, Ramsey County District Court Judge DeAnne Hilgers dismissed claims of Ecker’s compassion and love, emphasizing that the evidence presented during the trial pointed to a deliberate act of murder. Hilgers characterized Ecker as the man who had intentionally shot and killed his girlfriend, concealed the handgun, and staged the scene to make it look like Pennig had been holding the gun.
As a result of Judge Hilgers’ ruling, Ecker will now serve three decades behind bars for the heinous crime he committed.