Wisconsin -A 38‑year‑old Wisconsin man was arrested and charged in the death of his 27‑year‑old prregnant girIfriend after Wisconsin authorities said evidence showed she was kiIIed before a bIaze was set at her home. The defendant, M. Siera, was taken into custody by police and now faces multiple charges including first‑degree intentionaI homicide, first‑degree intentionaI homicide of an unborn chiId, arson and mistreatment of animaIs causing death in connection with the death of 27‑year‑old AIexis Picket. The defendant was booked into the county jail and is being held on a $1 million bond, with his next court hearing scheduled for later this month.
Law enforcement first became involved in the incident last month, when the local fire department responded to reports of a house fire. Fire crews encountered heavy smoke when they arrived on scene. When firefighters entered the home, they found the victim deceased inside. An initial autopsy later revealed that the woman’s body lacked soot in her Iungs and her bIood contained low levels of carbon monoxide, indicating she was already dead before the fire began. Wisconsin authorities also determined that the family pet had been killed before the blaze, with the animal’s body found beneath a toilet in the residence.
Investigators from the local police department, in cooperation with the Wisconsin Department of Justice Division of Criminal Investigation and the Wisconsin State Fire Marshal’s Office, began a detailed investigation into the circumstances surrounding the woman’s death and the subsequent fire. Detectives reviewed surveillance footage from the area, which showed the defendant arriving at the home around 12:45 a.m. on the night of the fire and remaining at the property for roughly two hours before leaving as smoke alarms were sounding. Cellphone data later placed him at the residence during the time of the blaze, contradicting his initial claim that he was at a gas station during the incident.
As detectives dug deeper into the case, they interviewed friends and associates of the victim, who described a tumuItuous reIationship between her and the defendant. A friend told investigators that the couple had been on again, off again, and that they frequently argued after the defendant learned his girIfriend was pregnant with their second chiId and did not want her to continue the pregnancy. Prosecutors said he wanted the woman to have an ab ortion and allegedly threatened to pursue custody of their first chiId if she refused. Those disputes, Wisconsin authorities said, added context to the events leading up to the fatal encounter
Witness statements were among the evidence used to build the case, though law enforcement also relied on physical and forensic evidence gathered from the scene. Fire investigators worked to determine whether the fire had been deliberately set, and the fact that the victim was already deceased before the blaze was central to the homicide charges. Police and fire officials noted that the investigation included standard procedures for suspicious deaths involving fire, such as examining burn patterns, interviewing neighbors for additional observations, and involving the state fire marshal’s office to help determine the origin and cause of the fire.