Westland Man Enters Plea In Slaying Of Girlfriend, Entombing Body In Plastic Drum
MOUNT CLEMENS (WWJ/AP) - A Detroit-area man faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison without parole in the slaying of his girlfriend whose decomposed body was found concealed in a plastic drum.
Scott Wobbe pleaded no contest Wednesday to first-degree murder and disinterment and mutilation of a body in the death of 22-year-old Theresa DeKeyzer.
The 38-year-old Westland man says he didn't want to put his family or DeKeyzer's family through the pain of trial, which was set to start. Sentencing is June 30.
DeKeyzer hadn't been seen for much of the summer until she was found dead in September, her decomposed body entombed in cement inside a 55-gallon drum that was bolted to the floor of a utility trailer at a Plymouth Township storage facility.
Wayne County Medical Examiner's Office spokesperson Mary Mazur said obvious measures were taken to cover up evidence in DeKeyzer's death. It took a team more than four hours to free the remains from the drum.
Police in Warren interviewed Wobbe twice and searched his home with cadaver dogs, but reportedly found no physical evidence to show that he was involved in DeKeyzer's disappearance.
The day before DeKeyzer went missing, she was apparently involved in a physical altercation with Wobbe, whose lengthy criminal history includes assault convictions. When DeKeyzer refused to get out of his car, he reportedly dragged her out by her shirt. She started hitting him with her fists, and he allegedly punched her in the face. The fight ended when neighbors intervened and Wobbe, who was reportedly drunk, fled the scene.
Reports say DeKeyzer was checked out by police at the scene, and said she would file a complaint in the morning.
About six hours after the fight, DeKeyzer walked to a gas station for cigarettes. Wobbe told police he picked DeKeyzer up from the gas station that night, and they went back to his house and made up, the Detroit News reported. That was the last anyone would see of DeKeyzer.
A no contest plea isn't an admission of guilt, but is treated as such for sentencing.
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