ALBERT LEA, MN--
Police have identified the victim as 38-year-old Jody Morrow.Tonight a man is in custody at the Freeborn County Detention Center.
Police have identified him as their main suspect.
Police first learned about Jody Morrow's death shortly before noon on Sunday.
That's when the suspect went to authorities.
“An Albert Lea male by the name of Chad Gulbertson came to the law enforcement center with a family member and during the course of a conversation with an officer, statements were made that led us to believe that he may have killed his girlfriend,” said Albert Lea Police Chief Dwaine Winkels.
Morrow lived at 730 Larimore Circle in the Rainbow Terrace Trailer Court. “We sent officers out to her residence to check on her welfare,” said Chief Winkels. “They found a female deceased in the residence who was identified as Chad's girlfriend, Jody Morrow.”
They're waiting on the autopsy results before naming a cause of death, but they think she died of blunt-force injuries. “We're not saying anything more than that, other than there's...definitely an assault occurred at the residence,” said Chief Winkels.
They're also not sure of when she died—but they think it was sometime between Saturday evening and Sunday morning.
Morrow's boyfriend, Chad Gulbertson, is currently being held at the Freeborn County Detention Center and is the main suspect in Morrow's death.
“He will probably face charges tomorrow,” said Chief Winkels.
Even though Morrow and Gulbertson had lived together at one point, they were not living together at the time of her death. Morrow had actually filed a restraining order against Gulbertson in May.
“Obviously with the orders for protection that were in place, there have been prior instances of alleged domestic violence in this residence--that's why the restraining order was in place at the time,” said Chief Winkels.
Gulbertson does have a previous criminal history--mostly burglaries or burglary related incidents.
The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension is helping with the case.
Police are hoping to get the autopsy results soon.
