High Speed Chase Through Wright County Leads to Arrest of Man Charged in Wisconsin for Girlfriend’s Murder

(KNSI) — The man accused of killing a woman in Wisconsin and dumping her body in Michigan was caught in Minnesota following a high-speed chase through Monticello.

Authorities say 29-year-old Robert Chilcote shot his girlfriend, Gabriella Cartagena, in the head following an argument in his car in Marinette County, Wisconsin, on February 4th, leaving her body just across the border in Menominee County, Michigan. On February 5th, investigators tracked Chilcote to Minnesota using cell phone tower data, eventually alerting a Wright County Sheriff’s deputy to his whereabouts and that he was wanted in connection with an aggravated assault and possible homicide. Deputies attempted to pull him over, but he fled, sometimes reaching speeds of 100 miles an hour, allegedly swerving toward – and narrowly missing – a deputy who had deployed stop sticks, forcing the deputy to jump out of the way. The chase ended in Otsego when Chilcote’s car became stuck at a roundabout. He was arrested at gunpoint. Inside his car, police say there was a loaded AR-15.

Chilcote is charged in Wright County District Court with one count of second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon and fleeing police.

Meanwhile, he is also charged in Wisconsin with first-degree intentional homicide in the death of Cartagena after police say he called them from the Wright County Jail, telling them he wanted to talk. Chilcote allegedly admitted to shooting Cartagena during an argument, claiming he fired the gun to scare her and that the shooting was accidental. Her body was found the next day.

He is being held in the Wright County Jail on a $50,000 bond. He will not fight extradition to Wisconsin to face charges there, and is set to appear on the Minnesota charges on May 1st.

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