Suvechha Sarkar
On a quiet night in December 2022, the community of Saint Paul, Minnesota, was shaken to its core by a horrific crime. Alexandra Lee Pennig, lovingly known as Alex, was an intelligent and kind woman who was brutally shot at her apartment. CBS’ ’48 Hours: The Strange Shooting of Alex Pennig’ examines the chilling circumstances surrounding the murder and how a little piece of metal helped authorities bring the killer to light. It also features interviews with her loved ones and the officials who helped serve justice.
Alex Pennig Was Shot Dead Inside Her Apartment in Minnesota
On December 27, 1989, Jim and Mary Jo Pennig were overcome with joy as they welcomed their daughter, Alexandra Lee Pennig, into the world. She was fondly known as Alex and never felt a shortage of love from her parents. She grew up spending precious time with her sisters, Brittney and Brady. Alex was loved immensely by her grandparents, Bud and Elsie Pennig, and Ron and Mary Phippen. In high school, she played Ice Hockey and won a state championship alongside her team. After graduating from high school, she pursued a Bachelor’s in Public Health from Montana State University. However, around 2016, she struggled with depression, and her parents explained how she had tried to take her own life.
When the nurses in the hospital saved Alex, it motivated her to help people. Hence, she attained a Licensed Practical Nursing degree from St. Paul College before moving on to Alexandria Technical and Community College and earning a Registered Nursing degree. In 2020, she worked part-time at a walk-in clinic, where she met Matthew Phillip Ecker, who became her good friend. By 2022, Alex had two furry kittens, Opie and Jax, and met her then-boyfriend, Shane Anderson. According to him, despite having been in a relationship for only four months, they were already planning their future because all their core beliefs and values aligned to a tee. However, her life came to an abrupt halt on December 16, 2022.
Around 2:50 am, Matthew called 911 to inform them that Alex had shot herself in her apartment in Downtown Saint Paul in Ramsey County, Minnesota. When officials arrived, they found her deceased with a single gunshot wound to her left temple. Her legs were positioned on either side of the door. They reportedly spotted the gun resting on her left shoulder with her left hand on it, and gun residue on the same hand. Besides a dry sink, they discovered the bathroom door lock to be broken. Furthermore, there were holes in a closet across the bathroom, consistent with punch marks. They further found alcohol and six bottles of prescription medicines, including Prozac and Valium. The autopsy determined Alex’s cause of death to be a single gunshot wound to her head. However, her manner of death remained undetermined.
Conflicting Accounts and Evidence Raised Doubts About the Killer’s Story
Officials first questioned Matthew at the scene, who claimed that he drove three hours to Alex’s apartment because she allegedly called to inform him that she was having an argument with her boyfriend, Shane Anderson. He alleged that the argument got physical, and he brought his permitted gun with him. Matthew added that he arrived at her place at around 2 pm, by which point she was alone. He and Alex then talked for a few hours before going out to a few bars, only to bump into her boyfriend at one of them. Matthew also stated that when things seemed to be getting tense between Shane and Alex, he stepped in the middle, resulting in the former punching him. Matthew claimed that although Shane was kicked out, they hung around for a while before returning to the apartment when Alex took the gun from him and pointed it at her head.
Matthew alleged that Alex entered the bathroom and closed the door, and right after, he heard a gunshot. He claimed that he then broke the lock and tried to stop her bleeding with his nursing skills by putting pressure on the wound. He further tried asserting that he had washed his hands in the sink before calling 911. However, it didn’t corroborate the physical evidence since police found no signs of blood in the sink, and it was dry. They reportedly noted that if Matthew had opened the door after Alex shot herself, then her legs would have been pushed behind the door rather than lying on either side. When officials questioned Shane, he informed them that although he and Alex had arguments, it allegedly never got physical.
During his questioning, Matthew said that Alex used her left hand to use the gun, but contradictorily revealed that she was right-handed. They discovered that he also unethically prescribed her medications like antidepressants and amphetamines, which were found at her home. Just three days prior, he reportedly received texts from her, in which she stated that she had lost hope in her life. Matthew’s parents, Blaine Ecker and Terri Randall, claimed that he and Alex had an affair, although he was married. By the summer of 2022, they allegedly broke off their physical relationship but remained friends. As if that’s not enough, they added that since Alex had reportedly begun drinking heavily, she lost many jobs, so Matthew helped pay her bills.
A Round Piece of Metal Led to the Arrest of Alex Pennig’s Killer
Investigators uncovered texts dating a few weeks back when Alex asked him to prescribe her medication. Upon checking the CCTV footage of Alex’s apartment complex after she and Matthew returned on December 16, they found them entering the complex. Within a few moments, they both went back outside so that Matthew could reportedly retrieve his earphones from his car, but Alex soon returned and waited for him inside the entry vestibule. From the footage, it was evident to detectives as well as her family that she was angry about something and feeling rather impatient. During Matthew’s interrogation at the station, he changed his accounts and claimed that after the shot was fired, he took the gun from her hand, put it in his suitcase, and then again put it back in her hand. However, Matthew’s fingerprints were not found on the firearm, which led officials to believe that he had cleaned it before placing it on top of Alex’s left shoulder and below her left hand.
What’s more is that when Alex’s body was moved, investigators found a round piece of metal from the broken lock of the bathroom door underneath her. This indicated that the door was broken before Alex was shot because there was no way it could be under her unless she fell on top of it, contradicting Matthew’s claims. Ultimately, he was arrested, and on December 19, 2022, he was formally charged with second-degree murder. The jury trial began on February 8, 2024, and he was convicted as charged on February 16, 2024. He was sentenced to 30 years in prison on April 3, 2024, and received credit for 57 days, which he had already served. Although he appealed his conviction on June 15, 2024, the Appellate Court upheld the original ruling in April 2025.
Read More: Where is Matthew Ecker Now? Update on Alex Pennig’s Killer
