A Wisconsin man charged with fatally stabbing his girlfriend more than two dozen times and slaughtering her 4-year-old daughter has urged homicide detectives to listen to Eminem's 2010 track Space Bound if they wished to understand his motive behind the slayings.
Patrick Fowler, 33, is currently on trial in Milwaukee for the savage March 2016 killings of Jessica Ellenberger, 28, and her cancer survivor daughter, Madyson Marshel.
According to a criminal complaint, Fowler told police after his arrest that he and his girlfriend of one month got into an argument and that he began stabbing her because 'he felt as if he were being disrespected.'
Shocking crime: Patrick Fowler, 33 (left), is on trial in Milwaukee for the savage March 2016 killings of Jessica Ellenberger, 28, and her 4-year-old daughter, Madyson Marshel (right)
Grisly crime scene: The mother and child were found stabbed to death and burned inside their Milwaukee home on March 19, 2016
After allegedly knifing the woman 26 times and slitting her throat, Fowler stabbed the four-year-old twice, then used the toddler's coloring books as kindling to set the mother and daughter's bodies on fire.
On his way out of the blood-spattered, burning house, Fowler allegedly said he grabbed a handful of Madyson's Easter candy from a basket.
On Day 2 of Fowler's murder trial on Wednesday, prosecutors played a recording from his interview with homicide detectives that took place shortly after his arrest in Arkansas.
At one point during the interrogation, the investigators asked Fowler why he set the victims' house ablaze, to which the man replied that they should listen to Eminem's song Space Bound in order to understand his mindset, reported Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
He then quoted verses from the song, which talks about a man who strangles his girlfriend and then shoots himself after realizing that she does not love him anymore.
Emotional day in court: A teary-eyed Fowler took the stand to testify in his own defense on Thursday, claiming that he was innocent and that 'someone else' killed the woman and child
Carnage: Fowler is accused of stabbing Madyson (left) twice and then burning her body beyond recognition
'Don't play games; it'll be dangerous if you f*** me over," Fowler recited to the cops. 'Cause if I get burnt I'ma show you what it's like to hurt. 'Cause I've been treated like dirt before you and love is evil, spell it backwards. I'll show ya.'
The track, which appeared on the Detroit rapper's seventh album, Recovery, also features the following lyrics: 'I'm trying to stop you from breathing/I put both hands on your throat/I sit on top of you squeezing/'Til I snap your neck like a Popsicle stick.'
On Thursday, an emotional Fowler took the witness stand to testify in his own defense and walked back much of his previous confession, instead pointing a finger of blame at some unspecified 'figure' for the murders.
With tears streaming down his face, Fowler claimed that he was guilty of cowardice, not murder, because he was hiding in the bathroom in terror as ‘someone else’ butchered his girlfriend and her daughter inside their home on North 86th Street in Milwaukee on March 19, 2016.
'I chose to save myself. I got three daughters myself. What if it was them,' Fowler told the court through sobs, according to Fox 6 Now.
Fowler said the three of them were spending the day together preparing Easter baskets when he went to use the restroom.
Fowler initially told police he felt disrespected by Ellenberger, his girlfriend of just a month
Charred: Prosecutors said after the murders, Fowler used Madyson's coloring books as kindling to start a fire at the crime scene
Heartbreaking detail: Fowler grabbed Madyson's Easter candy (pictured) after allegedly slaughtering her and her mom
When he returned a minute later, he said he saw 'a figure' rushing at him with a knife. He then fled back into the bathroom after suffering a severe cut to his hand.
While he was hiding in the bathroom, Fowler testified, he heard screams. When he emerged later, Fowler said he discovered his girlfriend, a protection officer with a security firm, and her daughter dead inside the toddler's bedroom.
The 33-year-old defendant said he held the woman and child in his arms and prayed for them, which resulted in their blood getting on his clothes, and then left the house with Madyson’s Easter candy.
An autopsy found 26 wounds on Ellenberger's upper body, plus burns on 40 per cent of her body. Madyson was stabbed twice and was burned over 100 per cent of her body.
US Marshals later picked up Fowler during a Greyhound bus layover in Texarkana, Arkansas, and extradited him back to Wisconsin to face two charges of first-degree murder.
Fowler's mother was also arrested after it was discovered she had bought her son the bus ticket and knew he had allegedly killed Ellenberger and her daughter.
Ellenberger worked as a protection officer at a security firm (left). Her daughter was a cancer survivor
In his testimony on Thursday, Fowler claimed his mother had urged him to go to the police, but he decided to flee to Texas because he looked 'guilty as hell.'
Fowler told the court he decided to confess to the murders after learning from his brother that his mother, the mother of his daughters and her friend had all been arrested in Milwaukee for helping him skip town.
At the time of the 2016 double-murder, Fowler was on probation for threatening to kill his ex-fiancee and her son with knives after she broke off their engagement six months prior.
The 33-year-old was also convicted of child abuse in 2009 and is a registered sex offender.
Closing arguments are expected to be presented later in the day on Friday, after which the case will go to the jury for deliberations.
'SPACE BOUND' BY EMINEM:
Eminem released the single Space Bound as part of his 2011 album, 'Recovery'
[Verse 1:]
We touch I feel a rush
We clutch it isn't much
But it's enough to make me wonder what's in store for us
It's lust, it's torturous
You must be a sorceress 'cause you just
Did the impossible
Gained my trust don't play games it'll be dangerous
If you fuck me over
'Cause if I get burnt I'ma show you what it's like to hurt
'Cause I've been treated like dirt before you
And love is "evol"
Spell it backwards I'll show you
Nobody knows me I'm cold
Walk down this road all alone
It's no one's fault but my own
It's the path I've chosen to go
Frozen as snow I show no emotion whatsoever so
Don't ask me why I have no love for these motherfucking ho's
Bloodsucking succubuses, what the fuck is up with this?
I've tried in this department but I ain't had no luck with this
It sucks but it's exactly what I thought it would be
Like trying to start over
I got a hole in my heart, but some kind of emotional roller coaster
Something I won't go on 'til you toy with my emotions, so it's over
It's like an explosion every time I hold you, I wasn't joking when I told you
You take my breath away
You're a supernova... and I'm a
[Chorus:]
I'm a space bound rocket ship and your heart's the moon
And I'm aiming right at you
Right at you
Two hundred fifty thousand miles on a clear night in June
And I'm aiming right at you
Right at you
Right at you
[Verse 2:]
I'll do whatever it takes
When I'm with you I get the shakes
My body aches when I ain't
With you I have zero strength
There's no limit on how far I would go
No boundaries, no lengths
Why do we say that until we get that person that we think's
Gonna be that one and then once we get 'em it's never the same?
You want them when they don't want you
Soon as they do feelings change
It's not a contest and I ain't on no conquest for no mate
I wasn't looking when I stumbled onto you must've been fate
But so much is at stake what the fuck does it take
Let's cut to the chase
'Fore a door shuts in your face
Promise me if I cave in and break and leave myself open
That I won't be making a mistake
Cause I'm a...
[Chorus]
[Verse 3:]
So after a year and six months, it's no longer me that you want
But I love you so much it hurts
Never mistreated you once
I poured my heart out to you
Let down my guard swear to God
I'll blow my brains in your lap
Lay here and die in your arms
Drop to my knees and I'm pleading
I'm trying to stop you from leaving
You won't even listen so fuck it
I'm trying to stop you from breathing
I put both hands on your throat
I sit on top of you squeezing
'Til I snap your neck like a Popsicle stick
Ain't no possible reason I could think of to let you walk up out this house
And let you live
Tears stream down both of my cheeks
Then I let you go and just give
And before I put that gun to my temple
I told you this
[Gunshot]
And I would have did anything for you
To show you how much I adored you
But it's over now
It's too late to save our love
Just promise me you'll think of me every time you look up in the sky and see a star 'cause I'm a...
[Chorus:]
I'm a space bound rocket ship and your heart's the moon
And I'm aiming right at you
Right at you
Two hundred fifty thousand miles on a clear night in June
And I'm so lost without you
Without you
Without you
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