The Person

Mary Tomow was a member of the Menominee Indian Reservation in northeastern Wisconsin. She was a daughter, a sister, and a mother of 2. She was only 26 when she was robbed of her future. Her family remembers her as a kind person who loved socializing and spending time with friends. In the years since her passing, her relatives have actively kept her memory alive, speaking her name at state vigils and ensuring that her legacy is tied to the broader, vital fight for justice and protection for Indigenous women in Wisconsin.

The Case

On September 27, 1998, Mary’s body was discovered by a Menominee Tribal Police officer in a heavily wooded area along Spirit Rock Road on the reservation. She was partially clothed and had severe burns on her upper torso, neck and head. A medical autopsy revealed that she had multiple lacerations to the face and nose and a fractured nasal bone. In addition, she suffered a depressed and fractured skull with cause of death listed as blunt-force trauma to the head. An investigation revealed she had been missing for several months after leaving her residence with an acquaintance on the night of March 21, 1998. Following a federal investigation and DNA testing by the FBI, C. Matchopatow was arrested in the spring of 2000.

Matchopatow subsequently confessed to her murder. He explained that after drinking some beers in his vehicle they engaged in consensual, unprotected sex. He said that afterwards Tomow stated that she could have him charged with rape and that he became upset by this. At this point he retrieved a tire iron and struck her several times. She was still alive when she fell to the ground and he admitted to smoking several cigarettes for ten or fifteen minutes as he watched her die. After she was no longer responsive he dragged her by her ankles into the woods and left her there. He claimed not to know how her body was burned, but it was confirmed that accelerant was used and ignited. He pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in federal court, receiving a prison sentence for his actions and his attempt to conceal her body. His time has been served and he is now free.