Man accused of murdering his girlfriend during drunken fight

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    SCOTTSDALE, Arizona (KPHO/KTVK) — A man in Scottsdale is facing a couple of felony charges after police say he killed his girlfriend during a fight where they were both drunk.

Court documents say 53-year-old Jeffrey Vandermate called police to his apartment near Frank Lloyd Wright Boulevard and Thompson Peak Parkway on Sunday afternoon saying he found his girlfriend not moving or breathing. When first responders arrived, they found her with signs of decomposition and lividity. She also had bruising around her neck. The woman, whose name hasn’t been released, was pronounced dead at the scene.

While talking to police, Vandermate initially said he last saw his girlfriend alive the night before. However, his story changed multiple times, according to court documents. Vandermate later told officers they were both alcoholics and they had been on a “two-week bender,” police said. After saying the woman tripped and fell, Vandermate changed his story to say she punched him several times and that he shoved her and she fell. He then said he did “something to her” but didn’t remember what it was. He just remembers that she dropped to the ground and her body was “lifeless,” court documents say.

Vandermate said he carried her to the couch. Court documents say before calling police, Vandermate wiped out his girlfriend’s phone and returned it to the factory settings. He was booked into jail on one count of second-degree murder and one count of tampering with physical evidence.

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