Prosecutors say Robert Chilcote shot Gabriella Cartagena during an argument, then carried her body across the Wisconsin-Michigan line.
MARINETTE, Wis. — A Marinette man is charged with first-degree intentional homicide after investigators said he shot his girlfriend during an argument, abandoned her body in Michigan and later claimed the killing was accidental.
The charge against Robert Chilcote, 29, followed the death of 24-year-old Gabriella Cartagena, whose disappearance first looked like a missing-person case before detectives tied it to a violent confrontation near Red Arrow Park. Prosecutors say the case now rests on a chain of evidence that includes Cartagena’s last phone call to her mother, blood and drag marks in the snow, cellphone location data and Chilcote’s own statements after his arrest. He is being held on a $2 million bond as the homicide case moves forward in Marinette County.
According to the criminal complaint described in local reports, Cartagena left home with Chilcote on the evening of Feb. 4. She was expected at work later that night but never arrived. Her mother told police she spoke with her daughter by phone and heard panic in her voice. Prosecutors said Cartagena could be heard pleading, “I’m sorry. Don’t shoot me. I’m sorry. I didn’t do nothing,” during the call. Investigators later placed her phone near Red Arrow Park at the same time. That phone call quickly became one of the most important pieces of the case because it gave detectives both a time marker and a possible location for the shooting. Afterward, authorities said, someone used Cartagena’s phone to send a text falsely suggesting she was already at work and unable to talk.
Police said the physical evidence at the park matched the alarm raised by the call. Investigators found what appeared to be blood in the snow and signs that something had been dragged. Cellphone data also placed Chilcote in the area, according to the complaint. Prosecutors say he then tried to continue the night as if nothing had happened. He allegedly went to work at Walmart around 10 p.m., stayed until about midnight, bought items and told a supervisor he quit. By the next day, authorities said, he had crossed state lines and was arrested in Minnesota after a high-speed chase. While in custody, investigators said, Chilcote admitted firing the gun. He told police Cartagena had been calling him names and that he pulled the weapon to scare her before it went off. Prosecutors have treated that version as an effort to reduce criminal responsibility, not as a defense that fits the evidence.
The case widened geographically on Feb. 10, when Cartagena’s body was found in wooded terrain in Menominee County, Michigan, not far from the Wisconsin border. Reports said the body was more than 100 feet from the road and covered by snow. Authorities said Chilcote later told investigators he drove into Michigan after the shooting, dragged Cartagena into the woods and left her there. An autopsy found she died from a gunshot wound to the head. Public accounts also described significant trauma to her face. Those details are likely to matter as prosecutors argue intent and post-crime conduct. They also undercut the notion of a mere accident, especially because the public record places the shooting near a park in Wisconsin and the disposal of the body in another state hours later.
The setting has shaped the investigation from the start. Marinette sits directly across from Michigan, making cross-border travel fast and routine. In this case, that geography meant a homicide inquiry spread almost immediately across multiple jurisdictions. Detectives had to connect a park scene in Wisconsin, a body recovery in Michigan and an arrest in Minnesota. The fact that both Chilcote and Cartagena worked at Walmart gave investigators another fixed point in the timeline, helping them show what Cartagena was supposed to be doing that evening and how Chilcote moved after prosecutors say he killed her. Publicly available records do not show a broader motive beyond the argument in the car, and they do not indicate any earlier public allegation of abuse between the two. That leaves the case focused on the final hours, the evidence in the snow and Chilcote’s own words.
The prosecution is still in its early stages, but the outlines are already firm. Chilcote faces a count that can carry life in prison if he is convicted. Prosecutors are expected to rely on the final phone call, the park evidence, location records and his admissions after arrest. Defense lawyers will likely try to keep the focus on his claim that he meant to frighten Cartagena rather than kill her. Even so, the public record already presents a damaging sequence for the defense: a frightened victim, a missed work shift, blood in the snow, a body across the state line and a defendant later admitting he fired the shot.
Chilcote remains jailed as the Marinette County case proceeds. The next milestone is further court review of the homicide evidence and a decision on whether the case heads toward trial or plea negotiations.
Author note: Last updated March 15, 2026.