A Hickory man will spend the next 26 to 32 years in prison for the 2022 murder of his girlfriend.
Eddie Dante Propst, 37 of Hickory, pled guilty to second-degree murder in Catawba County Superior Court on Tuesday for the murder of Laura Matthews in May of 2022. After the discovery of Matthews’s body, Propst, who shared a residence with Matthews, made several incriminating statements during a police interview and showed that he had a lengthy history of being the aggressor in domestic violence situations with the victim.
According to medical reports, the cause of Matthews’ death was determined to be blunt force trauma. Testing by the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation (NCSBI) also showed the defendant’s DNA on the victim’s clothing and body. Video surveillance from a local shelter several days prior to the fatal beating showed Propst assaulting the victim, and people who knew the couple told investigators there was a violent history between them.
