In the summer of 2016, a domestic argument tragically cut short the life of a 42-year-old Caucasian woman from Wichita, Kansas. Melissa Englert, a white female, was found deceased on August 11, 2016, in her parents' home on South Muirfield. The discovery was made after concerned family members of her boyfriend, Jonathan Perret, contacted the authorities.
They had received disturbing messages from Perret, which reportedly included photographs of Englert's body.
Police officers were initially dispatched to the residence Perret and Englert shared on West Second to check on his welfare. When they found no one at the home, their investigation led them to Englert's parents' house, where her car was parked outside. Inside, they discovered Englert's body; she had been shot and killed sometime between midnight and 5 a.m. that morning. Perret was located at the scene and arrested.
The investigation revealed that Englert and Perret, who had been in a relationship for over eight months, had gone to her parents' home the previous evening to collect their mail while they were out of town. An argument erupted between the couple, escalating to the point where a handgun inside the house was retrieved. The ensuing violence led to Englert's death. Authorities later disclosed that they had received several calls about the couple arguing in the two months leading up to the fatal incident.
Jonathan Perret, then 41, was booked into the Sedgwick County Jail on suspicion of first-degree murder. He was formally charged with first-degree premeditated murder and held on a $350,000 bond. In June 2017, Perret pleaded guilty to first-degree felony murder. A Sedgwick County District Court judge subsequently sentenced him to life in prison. He will be eligible for parole after serving 25 years.
