Charges: Forest Lake Man Killed Girlfriend, Stayed With Body For Days
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- A Forest Lake man has been charged with allegedly killing his girlfriend in his apartment and staying with her body for days until police arrived, according to charges filed in Washington County.
Lauren Mason Grove Lynch, 27, faces one count of second-degree murder – with intent, but not premeditated – in connection to the Tuesday, Sept. 8 incident.
According to the criminal complaint, on Friday, Sept. 11, police officers were dispatched to an apartment building on 956 12th St. SW to investigate a foul smell, possibly a dead body, coming from one of the apartments.
When officers knocked on the suspected apartment, there was no response. After receiving a key from the apartment manager, officers tried opening the door, but it appeared that a chair was leaning up under the doorknob, barricading the door closed. That's when a man's voice was heard inside the apartment, refusing to let officers in and telling them that his girlfriend, who recently moved in, was at work.
Related: Police Investigating Suspicious Death In Forest Lake
The man eventually came out of the apartment and placed his hands out, indicating that he should be handcuffed. He said, "she's inside", and identified himself as Lynch.
A deceased female was found inside lying near a couch covered in blankets with a pillow over her head. An autopsy later determined she died from homicidal violence with the primary cause of death as asphyxiation.
In an interview with police Sunday, Lynch told police the victim and he had gotten into a dispute on Sept. 8 and it turned violent. He admitted to punching the victim in the face and attempting to strangle her. He said he put a pillow over her face in order to suffocate her, and stabbed her in the neck several times with a kitchen knife.
Lynch did not call for help and remained with the victim until officers arrived on Sept. 11.
Lynch's bail was set at $2 million without conditions and $1 million with conditions. If convicted, he faces up to 40 years in prison.
