The suspect in Emily Rogers’ murder in Milwaukee has a history of domestic violence.

According to court records and local sources, the suspect in the death of Emily Rogers, a 23-year-old Milwaukee woman who went missing for more than a week before being found dead on May 5, had a history of domestic violence violations.

On Wednesday, Milwaukee police arrested and accused Nicholas Matzen, 35, of

first-degree reckless murder and concealing a corpse. He is being put in jail on a $500,000 cash bond. Matzen was Rogers’ one-year-old son’s father. “In this instance, the defendant is accused of strangling his child’s mother to death and coldly burying her body,” Amy Spanczak, Milwaukee County Assistant District Attorney, said at a court hearing on Thursday.

Prosecutors claim Rogers was breaking up with Matzen when he strangled her to death, according to the source.

County records show that the 35-year-old was arrested in 2010 for possession of THC, felony possession of a firearm, recklessly endangering safety, and use of a dangerous weapon, as well as arson and disorderly conduct charges related to a domestic incident in 2020, and a hit-and-run less than a month before Rogers’ disappearance.

Matzen’s counsel claimed that the state had delayed trial procedures for too long in the 2020 arson case involving Rogers, and the case was dismissed with prejudice.

Prosecutors claimed Matzen’s mother contacted Rogers at the time and requested her to check on Matzen, who was presumably sleeping, at his home. Matzen grew upset when Rodgers arrived and attempted to strangle her before she fled the house. She subsequently told authorities that he sent her angry text messages, one of which showed images of Matzen burning Rogers’ possessions in a garage.

Matzen was sentenced to his detention in 2010 after shooting and injuring a guy before meeting up with a buddy in a parking lot to get dispose of his firearm. Earlier this month, one of Matzen’s pals led investigators to the forested location where Rodgers’ corpse was discovered. The Wisconsin District Attorney’s office did not reply to requests for comment.

Matzen will appear in court for a preliminary hearing on May 19.