2021 Milwaukee homicide; Dennis Kurasz sentenced to life in prison
MILWAUKEE - A Milwaukee County judge sentenced Dennis Kurasz on Thursday, Jan. 4 to life in prison for killing his former girlfriend in December 2021.
A jury found Kurasz guilty in November of first-degree intentional homicide and bail jumping for a domestic violence case involving the same woman. He had been previously sentenced on the bail jumping charge to a term of three years in prison and three years of extended supervision. The new sentence is being tacked onto the end of that.
Case details
Police were first called regarding a robbery near Teutonia and Hampton in Milwaukee the morning of Dec. 27, 2021. When an officer arrived, a criminal complaint states Kurasz told the officer he and his girlfriend had been robbed and assaulted. However, the officer noted Kurasz's story was not consistent.
At one point, the complaint states Kurasz said he was hit with a brick as a man demanded $3,000 hours before police were called. Kurasz had no injuries consistent with that claim and later said he was only threatened with the brick. Kurasz said he and his ex-girlfriend began fighting the man, and the victim yelled for Kurasz to save himself.
Court filings state the victim told police in 2021 that she "never called the police" on Kurasz because "she feared he would kill her." That domestic violence case was open at the time of her death.
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The officer then followed Kurasz to the residence where he said the attack took place, per the complaint. The victim was found dead, "bleeding extensively from wounds to the head." An autopsy determined the victim suffered numerous blunt force injuries and lacerations to the head. The doctor performing the autopsy also determined the victim was strangled with an electrical cord.
A detective at the scene, according to the complaint, determined the victim was dragged across the floor from a bathroom to a bedroom after she was already bleeding. Two cordless impact drivers were found in an area of the bathroom floor that was saturated with blood. A detective also found surveillance equipment with "multiple wires cut" and the DVR box missing. The cabinet housing that equipment had blood on it. Inside an incinerator at the property, a detective found a fire-damaged DVR box, cellphone and clothing.
Kurasz in custody
In a statement to police, prosecutors said Kurasz admitted the robbery story was fabricated. He said he suspected the victim and her son were "stealing some of his customers." He said he took the victim's cellphone and removed its SIM card, and she at one point hit him in the head with a mice bait box, which had a cement bottom. After that, he said he tripped and fell on the victim – and the bait box landed on her face.
According to Kurasz, the victim "realized she was going to die" and "didn't want to be a vegetable" – so she asked him to kill her, according to the complaint. He said he then hit her with the bait box multiple times and choked her with a cord until she was no longer breathing.
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In regard to the items found in the incinerator, the complaint states Kurasz said he burned the items at the time of the victim's death – but did not explain why. He said after the fact, he put the bait station used to kill the victim "inside a deep 10 foot water area in the basement." A bait box was later found in that area.