Matthew Ecker: Married Minnesota man gets 3 decades in prison for shooting girlfriend, staging scene as suicide

Warning: This article contains a recollection of crime and can be triggering to some, readers’ discretion advised.

ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA: Matthew Phillip Ecker, a 45-year-old former emergency room nurse practitioner, has been sentenced to 30 years in a state correctional facility for the 2022 slaying of Alexandra L Pennig.

He was convicted by a jury on one count of second-degree murder after shooting Pennig in the head and staging the scene to make it appear as though she had taken her own life.

Ecker, who was married at the time of the incident and had four children with his wife, claimed that Pennig was aware of his family situation, although his wife was not aware of the relationship. According to reports, his wife has since divorced him, as per the Pioneer Press.

Insights into Alexandra Pennig's fatal shooting

The tragic event unfolded on December 16, 2022, when officers from the St. Paul Police Department responded to a 911 call made by Ecker himself, claiming that his girlfriend had shot herself in the head just minutes prior. Upon arriving at the scene in an apartment complex on Fifth Street East, investigators discovered Pennig lying on her back in the bathroom with a gunshot wound to the left side of her head.

“A firearm lay on (Pennig’s) chest and her left hand was on top of the gun,” the complaint stated. “Officers recovered the gun and noted (Pennig) had little or no grip on it. The handgun did not have any blood on its sides and possibly had blood on the tip of the muzzle — otherwise, it was remarkably clean. (Pennig) did not have any obvious signs of blood on her left hand.”

Evidence contradicts Matthew Ecker's account of Alexandra Pennig's death

According to police, Pennig's legs were positioned across the door, suggesting that it was probably open when she was shot. Despite Ecker's attempts to stage the scene, investigators noted inconsistencies that pointed to foul play.

The complaint revealed that the handgun found on Pennig's chest had little to no blood on it, and the blood in the bathroom had already “dried and coagulated” by the time authorities arrived. Moreover, Ecker changed his story multiple times regarding the events leading up to and following the shooting.

Before imposing the sentence, Ramsey County District Court Judge DeAnne Hilgers highlighted the evidence presented during the trial, emphasizing that Ecker's actions contradicted any attempt to portray him as compassionate or loving. The judge said Ecker was “the man” who shot and killed his girlfriend Alexandra Pennig.

“The man who concealed the handgun after the shooting,” she claimed. “The man who then coldly calculated to pose Alex after her death to appear to be the person who had been holding the gun.”