Live-in girlfriend kills mate and hides body in closet, police charge

A Norristown, PA, woman, who claimed she had "gotten sick" of her son's father and his attitude, allegedly shot him in the back of the head and left his plastic-wrapped body decomposing in a basement closet before admitting to killing him, police said.

Nancy Kay Austin, 38, reportedly told police she shot Samuel "Sam" Monroe at theft well-kept, small, single family home in May in a fit of jealousy and rage following a scathing argument the day before allegedly caused by the discovery of another woman in Monroe's life. That statement has led her to be held without bond on charges of first- and third-degree murder, abuse of a corpse, placing a false missing-person report, possession of an instrument of crime and related offenses.

She killed him, according to authorities, because they often went to sleep with their anger only to wake up to mornings of domestic disputes. Those disputes, during which she alleges Monroe "severely beat" her, prompted Austin to purchase a .357 Ruger pistol, police said.

According to police, Austin claims that on the morning of the murder, Monroe "just woke up in a bad mood" and "started arguing about anything." Fearing for her life, she pulled a recently purchased gun from under the couple's bed and pointed it at him, she reportedly told police. When Monroe stoically acknowledged the weapon by rolling over in bed, Austin said she became enraged. "He had turned away [and] as he was rolling over, he started to close his eyes. I was angry. He would not listen to me. For four years, I was scared of him and he would not listen ..." she reportedly told police.

However Monroe's friends gave a different account of his character than his live-in girlfriend and mother of theft 20-month-old son.

One neighbor described Monroe, who reportedly had multiple sclerosis, as a "beautiful person," while coworkers at Montgomery County Emergency Services at the Norristown State Hospital told police that it was Austin who inflicted harm on Monroe during domestic squabbles. Shortly after Monroe's death, Austin reported him missing.

After two months without any leads, police asked for and were granted a search warrant for the couple's home. They found him--wrapped in fly-covered plastic in a basement closet.

"I guess we solved a missing-person case and a homicide in the same day," Norristown Chief of Police Russell J. Bono said with a sigh.