A Nebraska man faced a judge this morning, who informed him of his official charges and bail amount after he reportedly helped his girlfriend commit suicide in August.

Omaha World-Herald reports that Matthew Stubbendieck, 41, of Weeping Water, was charged with one felony count of assisting suicide after he reportedly led 38-year-old Alicia Wilemon-Sullivan, of Florida, to a wooded area in Omaha with the intent of helping her end her life.

According to police, Wilemon-Sullivan’s teen son, Matthew, who lives in Florida, alerted local authorities two months ago when he couldn’t get in touch with this mother. He informed police that his brother in Mississippi said their mother committed suicide. After police put up a missing person report in Volusia County, authorities in Nebraska were alerted, which led to Stubbendieck. It was only after the missing person report surfaced that the suspect came forward, two months after Wilemon-Sullivan died.

When questioned, Stubbendieck told police that his girlfriend killed herself in early August. He then led authorities to her body, hidden in a wooded area by an old quarry, around 25 miles southwest of Omaha. Stubbendieck claimed that he and Wilemon-Sullivan made arrangements to fly her from to Florida to Nebraska so that she could “die in his arms.”

Stubbendieck alleged that his girlfriend had terminal stage four cancer in the lymph nodes of her armpits, neck, and stomach, but according to the medical examiner’s office that performed the autopsy on her, there were no cancerous tumors or masses found. Yet, nothing could disprove that she had cancer, either.

Stubbendieck said he never accompanied Wilemon-Sullivan to medical appointments and had heard she’d been diagnosed and treated in emergency rooms only.

Wilemon-Sullivan had three minor children that she left behind with a 19-year-old “babysitter.” She allegedly told her kids that she was headed on vacation to Key West, Florida, and would return soon. The children’s grandmother, Shirley Wilemon, later picked the children up and took them to her home.

Stubbendieck allegedly spoke to Wilemon and Wilemon-Sullivan’s son, Matthew, on the phone at some point, and explained that he’d been dating Wilemon-Sullivan for around a year. He allegedly told the pair that Wilemon-Sullivan, “took a bunch of pills and, before he knew it, she slit her wrists and died in his arms in a wooded area somewhere in Nebraska.”

The suspect told detectives that his girlfriend slit her wrists on Aug. 1 while in the woods with him. He said he left her there whispering in his arms and still alive, but when he returned the next day, she was dead. He claimed he watched her try to slice her wrists for around seven hours, and at one point, tried to smother her to end her life, but he couldn’t go through with it. Since her body was decomposed when found, the autopsy couldn’t reveal conclusively how Wilemon-Sullivan died.

Meanwhile, Wilemon-Sullivan’s family, including her father, Don Wilemon, are furious with the suspect. Although the family doesn’t deny Wilemon-Sullivan’s initial intent when she flew in to see the suspect, they feel that Stubbendieck should be “to the fullest extent allowable under Nebraska law.”

Stubbendieck remains behind bars on a $50,000 bail. Check back with CrimeOnline as additional details become available.

[Feature Photo: Police Handout]