In a case that has lingered over the years, a 57-year-old man has finally heard the verdict regarding the troubling accusations against him: the murder of his girlfriend and the concealment of her body in a wooded area.

Unfortunately for Matthew Pahl, the outcome was not in his favor.

On Tuesday, the courtroom was heavy with anticipation as a Waukesha County judge declared Pahl guilty of first-degree intentional homicide and concealing a corpse, crimes connected to the tragic death of his 44-year-old girlfriend, Stephanie Pavlons. This decision came after a six-day trial, during which Pahl maintained a stoic demeanor.

The grim discovery unfolded on September 9, 2022. Construction workers, busy near Golf Road in Delafield, stumbled upon a body and immediately alerted the authorities. As detailed in a criminal complaint obtained by Law&Crime, the body was in an advanced state of decomposition.

Subsequent identification confirmed the remains were those of Stephanie Pavlons. When investigators reached out to her family, they learned that Pavlons had been out of touch for nearly three weeks. Her parents revealed that she had been involved in a tumultuous, on-and-off relationship with Pahl for over two decades.

Pavlons” mother believed her daughter was a victim of domestic violence and that Pahl “knocked her around.” As detectives continued investigating, they found apparent evidence of such abuse in the form of entries into a daily planner book.

“[A]nother depressing & physically abusing day. I think he likes to do it,” read an entry from July 2021. “HATe my life.”

An entry from the next day read, “got hit hard which left a nice mark on my chest,” as well as “got a nice scar along w/ it.” Pictures from that same year showed the victim “with a bruised and swollen eye” and a red mark on her chest.

Pavlons was last seen on Aug. 23, 2022, at a convenience store after leaving their shared apartment in the morning with a pink water bottle and black purse. Pahl left shortly after.

Surveillance footage captured the since-convicted defendant returning to the apartment hours later with the same pink water bottle, and a little while later, carrying a plastic shopping bag containing Pavlons’ black purse. Authorities noted that Pahl did not report her missing between her disappearance on Aug. 23, 2022, and her discovery on Sept. 17, 2022.

Despite compiling evidence, due to the decomposition of her body, authorities could not determine a cause of death for Pavlons. However, they did determine that she died on Aug. 23.

Pahl was ultimately taken into custody on Sept. 17, 2022, where he told law enforcement he hadn’t seen Pavlons in weeks and he “had a bad feeling.” He claimed that she was “threatening suicide all of the time and that really got to him,” according to the complaint.

At one point in his interview, Pahl reportedly said, “I have nothing to do with what happened to her…so that purse, that purse, and water bottle ain’t s—…ok it’s not going to prove anything. It’s not going to prove or disprove anything.”

Pahl’s computer history also proved curious to detectives. He “began searching for an obituary” for the victim on Aug. 26, three days after her death and 15 days before her body was found. He also had extensive communication with two women in the Philippines, expressing his desire to move there and stating how he was “really worried” about something.

Pahl was charged with killing Pavlons, and plans for the trial moved ahead. Once it began, prosecutors admitted it was a circumstantial case; however, they crafted an account and provided enough evidence that jurors found to be incriminating.

Pavlons told Pahl her intentions to leave him around the time he had a doctor’s appointment on that fateful Aug. 23, according to prosecutors’ account of events. He then strangled her with her purse strap and dumped her body in the woods.

“He thinks he’s covering his trail – but he didn’t know that we would know we could look through her phone, find things he deleted – we’re smarter than him,” Waukesha County Assistant District Attorney Kristi Gordon said, per local Fox affiliate WITI. “He thinks he’s the smartest man in the room.”

Pahl’s defense team claimed his behavior was normal — that he was worried about his girlfriend and that was why he was searching for an obituary. They also suggested Pavlons was suicidal and pointed out how neither her mother nor the couple’s shared daughter reported her missing.

Prosecutors’ account ultimately proved more convincing. Pahl is set to be sentenced on Nov. 11; he faces life in prison.