Fergus Falls Man Charged with 2nd Degree Murder in St Paul

Fergus Falls man charged with 2^nd degree murder in St Paul.

44-year-old Matt Ecker from Fergus Falls was charged with 2^nd degree murder of his girlfriend 32-year-old Alexandra Pennig of St Paul.  Around 2:50 Friday morning, St Paul law enforcement were called to Pennig’s downtown St. Paul apartment.

Court documents say, Ecker had called 911 reporting that a woman had shot herself in the head.  Ecker told authorities that he had a permit to carry a firearm.  Ecker met officers in the lobby.

Officers found Pennig lying on her back in the bathroom with the door between her legs and a gunshot wound to the left side of her head. She was pale and not breathing. A firearm lay on her chest, and her left hand was on top of the gun. Officers recovered the gun and noted that she 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. The victim did not have obvious signs of blood on her left hand and was cold to the touch when officers checked for a pulse.

Officers noted that the blood in the bathroom had already dried and coagulated when they arrived. The bathroom sink bowl was visibly dry. The bathroom door had a split in the wood near the lock. Medics pronounced Pennig dead at 3:04 AM.

Ecker told responding officers he is from Fergus Falls. He came to visit Penning today because she had called and asked him to after she had told him she was being physically abused by her other boyfriend. Ecker said he had been in an open relationship with her for two years. Ecker told police that things had been great prior to the incident.

They went to three different bars. They ended up at Camp Bar where Pennig’s other boyfriend was. Ecker didn’t know how she knew her other boyfriend was at that particular bar. They sat across the bar from each other at Camp Bar, and the other boyfriend approached and talked to the woman. Ecker walked over and got between Pennig and the other boyfriend. The other boyfriend punched Ecker in the face, and Ecker fell to the floor. Security dragged the other boyfriend from the bar. Ecker and Pennig stayed at the bar another 45 minutes before they walked home.

Court documents went on to say that Ecker said that things were calm when they got home. Ecker said at one point he left to go for a walk to cool down because they got into an argument. Suddenly Penning grabbed his gun from his backpack, ran to the bathroom, and locked herself inside. He heard a gunshot while he was sitting on a couch in the living room, and he rushed to the bathroom. Ecker said he wasn’t sure if the door was locked, but he had to push the door open to get into the bathroom. He said she was lying in a pool of blood, and he saw she had shot herself in the head. Ecker said Pennig knew the gun was in his backpack because he had told her before they went out to drink. Ecker said the victim was still breathing when he got the door open, and he tried to help her using his medical skills – he put pressure on her head and performed CPR. Ecker said he did not have blood on his hands because he washed them in the bathroom sink before he called 911.

Documents said that officers did not note any blood on Ecker’s clothing.

And Ecker then changed his story and said Pennig grabbed the gun from the backpack and pointed the gun to her head. Ecker asked her what she was doing. Ecker then changed his story again – he said she ran to the bathroom and closed the door on him.

Surveillance video showed that Ecker and AP returned to the apartment building at 2:04 AM. Ecker tried to grab AP’s key fob, but she turned away from him to prevent him from getting them. They entered the building together. Ecker and Pennig left the building at 2:24 AM. She returned to the vestibule at 2:28 AM. And appeared impatient, and she paced back and forth while looking at her phone. Ecker eventually returned carrying her keys, and they entered the building. Pennig walked ahead of Ecker, and Ecker raised his hands in apparent frustration as he followed the woman.

Ecker was brought to police headquarters to speak to investigators. Court documents report that while sitting in the conference room, Ecker said to himself that he should have performed CPR on her, that he didn’t know why he washed his hands before he called 911, that he should not have pushed on AP’s head, but he was trying to find the bullet exit point to see if the bullet had gone through her head. Ecker repeatedly said the gun should have been kept in his car.

Ecker agreed to speak with investigators after being advised of his constitutional rights. Ecker said he met Pennig at a clinic where they worked in Fergus Falls. They’ve been dating for two years. Ecker went to Arizona to visit AP after she moved there. In August 2022, Ecker flew to Arizona, rented a truck, and helped Pennig move back to Minnesota. Ecker said that she knew about Ecker’s wife and four children, and was okay with it.

Analysis of Ecker’s phone showed that he had been prescribing the victim drugs including Adderall and diazepam. Ecker was also helping Pennig pay her rent. Ecker said he loved her, and she loved him.

Ecker said AP called him while he was on his way to work in the emergency room at Roseau. Pennig said her other boyfriend had assaulted her and broken a light fixture, and she was afraid because her other boyfriend had keys to her apartment. Ecker called work and said he wouldn’t be able to come in, and he headed to St. Paul.

Authorities say Ecker got to Pennig’s apartment around 2:00 PM. They went to her apartment – Ecker had a couple of beers and Pennig drank Prosecco. At around 7 Thursday evening, Pennig decided she wanted to go out. Before leaving, Ecker removed his handgun from his waistband and put it in his backpack. Ecker said Alexandra knew he didn’t keep a round in the handgun’s chamber.

They went to two bars. At the second bar, Pennig learned that her other boyfriend was at Camp Bar, and decided to go to Camp Bar.

Documents said that Ecker knew it wasn’t a good idea to go to the bar where the other boyfriend, but Pennig wanted to go so they went.

Ecker said Pennig likes to ruffle feathers.

Ecker sat at the bar. she sat across from him. The other boyfriend approached the woman, so Ecker got up, walked over to them, and he stood between Pennig and her other boyfriend. The other boyfriend punched Ecker in the face, and he fell to the floor. Ecker and Pennig remained at the bar for another 45 minutes before they returned to her apartment.

Court documents say that Ecker said they were happy when they walked home from the bar – they did not get into an argument.

Ecker said they did not leave the apartment once they returned.

Within five minutes of returning to the apartment, Pennig walked over to Ecker’s backpack, reached inside, and grabbed his gun. She removed the gun from its holster and charged the gun with her left hand while holding it in her right hand.

Pennig then put the gun up to her head with her left hand. Ecker said it was weird since she is right-handed.

Pennig walked backwards to the bathroom. She told Ecker not to come closer or she would pull the trigger as he followed her to the bathroom. Ecker did not know where her grabbing the gun came from.

She locked the bathroom door. Ecker asked her what she was doing, and he heard the “pop.” Ecker said the gun went off two seconds after she closed the door. Ecker shouldered the door open and saw her lying on the floor with his gun next to her left shoulder.

According to authorities, Ecker said the door did not hit the woman’s feet when he opened the door – her body was far enough out of the way not to be hit by it.

Despite Ecker’s medical training he didn’t know what to do when he saw the blood streaming out of Pennig’s head. Ecker checked to see if there was an exit wound on the other side of her head, and he got blood on his hands.

Court documents say that Ecker did not perform CPR on Pennig. Ecker grabbed the gun and placed it on her chest. Ecker said he only placed the gun on her chest. Ecker got up, washed his hands in the sink using only water, and he called 911 from Pennig’s phone because he couldn’t find his own.

Ecker didn’t know why he washed his hands – he thought maybe he didn’t want to get blood on his phone. Ecker said he did not wash the gun or clean up her hands. Ecker said it was 4 – 8 minutes from the time he found Pennig until police arrived.

Documents say that Ecker later told investigators he took the gun and put it back in his suitcase after the shooting. He wasn’t sure if he put the gun in its holster. He got scared of getting in trouble because it was his gun. Ecker went back to the bathroom and looked at Pennig. Ecker returned to his suitcase, retrieved the gun, and put it back on her chest. When investigators confronted Ecker about Pennig’s hand being on the gun when officers arrived, he said he didn’t know how her hand came to rest on the gun. He could not recall putting her hand on the gun.

Ecker said he did not know if Pennig had any gun training. Ecker has not shown AP how to use his gun.

Ecker’s workplace reported he had not arrived at his shift. Ecker’s family contacted police worried that he had gone off the road in a snowstorm. Police discovered Ecker was booked into jail in Ramsey County on murder charges.

Family confirmed that Alexandra Pennig was right-handed.