An abusive Nebraska woman who beat her boyfriend to death tried to hide his wounds with makeup.
Michelle Lee Marr, 49, was found guilty of second-degree murder and tampering with evidence for the brutal murder of her boyfriend, Jesse Gilpin, in March 2022.
She had called 911 at the time claiming to have woken up and found Gilpin unconscious in bed at their home on the Winnebago Indian Reservation, according to court documents.
Gilpin, a dad, was rushed by medivac to Twelve Clans United Hospital in Sioux City, Iowa — where nurses noticed he had “significant amounts of makeup” on his face and body, federal prosecutors said.
Once the makeup was washed away, it revealed numerous injuries — including “a golf-ball sized or bigger knot or bruise on the left side of his head” as well as “bruises on the right side of his head,” prosecutors said.
“The makeup was described as having been applied thickly and appeared fresh and not slept in,” prosecutors claimed in court documents obtained by the Daily Mail.
“A nurse at Mercy Medical Center said it took her a while to scrub the makeup off Gilpin’s face and she noted it was a match for Gilpin’s skin tone,” they added.
Gilpin died the next day from brain trauma and swelling, with an autopsy rling the death a homicide.
A pathologist testified during his girlfriend’s trial that the injuries were deliberately inflicted trauma rather than from an accident or fall.
Marr told investigators that she passed out around 5 p.m. the night before and when she woke up she found Gilpin, described as her live-in boyfriend, unconscious on their bed.
Prosecutors discovered evidence on her phone and social media account that proved that she lied when she claimed to have passed out and found her boyfriend unconscious in bed.
Marr’s children and other relatives told police that she had a history of physical violence towards Gilpin.
She was guilty of second-degree murder and tampering with documents or evidence after a five-day trial in Omaha. She faces up to life in prison when sentenced on June 5.
