Maggie Angst

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

A Racine man has been charged with strangling his neighbor to death and hiding her corpse in his refrigerator.

Harry S. Fumich, 49, was charged Thursday with first-degree intentional homicide, hiding a corpse and robbery with use of force, according to the Racine County District Attorney's Office.

According to the criminal complaint:

The homicide was reported to the Racine Police Department on Wednesday in the apartments above the Sunshine Supermarket located at 1559 Taylor Ave. in Racine.

A witness told officers that a woman's body had been thrown into the dumpster behind the Sunshine Supermarket, but by the time officers arrived, the dumpster had been emptied by Waste Management. Officers located the body wrapped in a dark blanket at a dump site at 16th Street and Oakes Road in Racine. The deceased woman was identified in the criminal complaint as "KC."

Police then went to Fumich’s apartment, where they detained him and a woman who lived in the apartment with him.

The woman told police that Fumich killed KC, a neighbor in his apartment complex, because he was tired of her stirring up controversy.

On Tuesday morning, Fumich brought KC over to his apartment and told her he had something to show her in his bedroom.

Prior to bringing KC over, Fumich cut a length of cord from a mini oscillating fan, and then he used it to strangle her. KC became unconscious and limp and fell to the ground. After realizing she was dead, Fumich wrapped KC in a black and gold blanket from his bed and stuffed her body in his refrigerator at about noon on Tuesday.

Later Tuesday night, Fumich and an accomplice rolled the body over Fumich's apartment balcony and into the dumpster behind Sunshine Supermarket.

Fumich admitted to police that he killed KC because she did not pay for crack cocaine that he gave her. He stated that afterward he "looked at her and kind of regretted it."

Fumich was in court Thursday for an initial court appearance and his bond was set at $500,000. He is scheduled for a preliminary hearing at 9 a.m. Wednesday.