KALAMAZOO, Mich. — The man accused of killing his girlfriend in their Kalamazoo apartment this week also allegedly withdrew hundreds of dollars from her bank account after investigators believed he killed her.
Virginia Cramer's body was found Tuesday by a relative inside the 71-year-old's apartment in the Crosstown Parkway Senior Community. She had obvious injuries to her face and chest, including stab wounds, according to court documents.
Cramer's family said she lived in the apartment with her boyfriend, Jose Mata. He was not in the apartment when officers arrived, per court records. Cramer's phone and minivan were also missing.
Neighbors told detectives they heard loud noises coming from the apartment between 7 a.m. and 8 a.m. on Monday. Records from Cramer's bank account showed a number of ATM withdrawals on Monday and Tuesday. Detectives said surveillance cameras from those ATMs captured Mata behind the wheel of the van, placing those withdrawals.
Security footage at the apartment complex also showed Mata leaving the building around 7:15 a.m. on January 11 headed out to where the van was parked. The ATM withdrawals came minutes later, according to court records.
Mata was then recorded going back into the apartment complex just before 7:30 a.m. on Monday, then leaving against nearly an hour and a half later pushing a walker with several bags on it.
License plate readers recorded the minivan leaving the Kalamazoo area, and entering the Grand Rapids metro area later that morning.
Detectives tracked Mata to his uncle's apartment in Wyoming, where the city's Department of Public Safety assisted in arresting him. Mata's uncle told police the 62-year-old claimed he'd been kicked out after an argument, according to court records.
During an interview with police, Mata waived his right to remain silent, admitting he "flipped out," per court documents. He later said, "I hurt her, now she's not here with me no more."
Mata is charged with open murder for Cramer's death. If convicted, he would spend the rest of his life in prison.
