KALKASKA -- Sanchez Ellis told a judge he notified authorities after David DeJonge made some troubling statements during a casual card game in the Oakland County Jail.
Ellis and DeJonge both were housed there shortly before authorities brought DeJonge to Kalkaska County to face charges in the death of Sarah Wilson, 26. DeJonge told Ellis he dismembered Wilson while the two men socialized with other inmates, Ellis testified in a Kalkaska County courtroom on Wednesday.
"He said he chopped up his girl and got rid of her," Ellis said.
Ellis was among several witnesses who testified at DeJonge's preliminary examination, where Kalkaska Judge Lynne Buday bound DeJonge over to stand trial on an open count of murder and dismemberment of a body.
Police found Wilson's torso in a swampy area near Mecum Road in Kalkaska County's Oliver Township May 22. Her parents reported her missing May 12 after she didn't arrive at their Big Rapids home for a Mother's Day visit.
Wilson knew DeJonge, 44, for several years and lived with him in the Detroit suburb of Bloomfield Township, her family said. DeJonge was supposed to drop her off in Big Rapids before continuing on to a cabin his family owns in Kalkaska County's Orange Township.
DeJonge asked for a tissue and appeared to briefly turn away and weep as Kalkaska Prosecutor Brian Donnelly taped photos of Wilson's torso on a large easel in the courtroom.
Forensic pathologist David Start testified that he believes the body was dismembered with a "sawing type instrument" sometime after Wilson was killed. He believes the woman was the victim of a homicide, he said, but he couldn't determine an exact cause of death.
Wilson's torso had a few large bruises that appeared to be the result of injuries sustained when she was alive, Start said.
Several Michigan State Police investigators testified about their examination of the isolated Orange Township cabin. Police believe the alleged murder happened at or near the cabin, Donnelly said.
Investigators testified they found a blood-stained wheelbarrow in the cabin, and the blood from the wheelbarrow allegedly matched blood from Wilson's torso.
