Man Arrested In Connection With Girlfriend's Death
BURNSVILLE, Minn. (WCCO) – A 40-year-old man has been arrested in connection with the death of his girlfriend and is scheduled to appear in court Tuesday.
Uriah David Schulz, currently residing in Apple Valley, has been charged with one count of second-degree murder, according to Dakota County Attorney James Backstrom. His girlfriend, 41-year-old Elizabeth Victoria Perrault, of Burnsville, died around November of 2017. Her body was not located until April of this year.
According to the criminal complaint, a fisherman called 911 in April and reported finding what he believed to be a dead body near the Interstate 35W bridge in Burnsville. Police found a badly decomposed body wearing a bathrobe and wrapped in a blanket, later determined to be Perrault by dental records.
A police investigation revealed several puncture holes in the robe tested positive for blood. A search of Perrault's apartment where Schulz was living at the time of her disappearance also uncovered blood stains on the bedroom carpet, carpet pad and subflooring, including the shape of a human body on the floor shown through blue luminescence.
The Hennepin County medical examiner determined that Perrault had died by homicide, and blunt force trauma was found on the right side of her face, with bone fractures around her eye and cheek.
A stain was found in the trunk of Schulz's car, which also tested positive for blood.
Police say during interviews with Schulz, he said he was last in Perrault's apartment on Nov. 1, 2017, the date on or about authorities believe she died. According to the criminal complaint, however, Schulz's cellphone had connected to the wireless internet at Perrault's apartment 184 times during the months of November and December.
Police also say Perrault's debit card had been used 20 times since her disappearance, and nine of those transactions occurred at a Super America store using Super America rewards tied to Schulz' account.
When questioned about the stains in Perrault's apartment, Schulz told police she spilled two glasses of wine in her bedroom. He said the blood stains in the trunk of his car happened when he picked her up from the hospital before her murder and she was bleeding. A doctor reviewing her medical records told police there was no indication of significant bleeding when she was discharged from the hospital.
Schulz will appear in court on Tuesday at 11 a.m. in Hastings.