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Marlisa Wells On ‘Grave Secrets’ Tonight: Teen Murdered By Boyfriend Over Alleged Pregnancy

By Traciy Reyes
Published on: 09:36 PST, Dec 28, 2016

The case of murdered teenager Marlisa Wells of Austell, Georgia, will be discussed once more in a television documentary. This time, Grave Secrets on Investigation Discovery re-enacts the shocking tale.

Marlisa Wells was a 16-year-old girl who was found dead in her basement bathroom after her on-again-off-again boyfriend, Matthew Wilkins, a bright-eyed college basketball player, stabbed her to death. The case is noteworthy because Marlisa, a church songstress, was murdered because she thought that she was pregnant, although that turned out not to be the case. Plus, the murder was so gruesome that her secret lover left a fork embedded deep inside of her back, a detail that shocked and stuck with police. The Grave Secrets episode documenting the case is titled “The Last Calls She Made.”

https://www.facebook.com/brandonjshaw12/photos/a.1485806575068832.1073741830.1390136834635807/1721283974854423/?type=3

Honor Student Found Dead In Basement Stabbed Around 60 Times

Marlisa Wells had everything to live for. She was a smart, beautiful young lady whose friends and family say that she was a talented songbird. Attending a private Christian school, her mother and grandparents held out hope that she would like a remarkable life. It looked like she was on her way until she met 19-year-old Matthew Wilkins, a basketball hopeful who had big plans for himself after graduation.

Secrets Killed

Like Marlisa, Matthew Wilkins was also said to have come from a good family who instilled values in him and pushed him to go to college on a basketball scholarship. Matthew tried hard, they say, to live up to his family’s expectations. And that’s why it would have been impossible for him to tell them that he was having a baby with a 16-year-old girl. With that in mind, he decided that he had to end it in the most permanent way possible — by killing Marlisa.

On Grave Secrets, you’ll learn that Marlisa Wells was a good girl, but she had a secret: There was a boy in her life. Perhaps that would be a normal situation for any girl her age, but her grandparents wanted her to be focused on her education. Also, boys were not allowed inside the home when they were not there.

Sadly, this is precisely what Marlisa Wells did. She invited Matthew Wilkins over to talk about the pregnancy and to have sex with him while her grandparents were attending a funeral, according to the Tifton Gazette.

Kill His Girlfriend or Kill His Future?

Marlisa was in love with Matthew. She most likely hoped that she would talk him into accepting the pregnancy, they would make love, and they would become a family. What she didn’t know was that Matthew had different plans — he planned to end her life that day. According to prosecutors, the two communicated by phone and text, and as soon as her grandparents left the home, the plan was for Matthew to come over.

Wilkins arrived, they talked, and they had sex. But something went terribly wrong. At some point, Matthew began beating and stabbing Marlisa Wells. She tried to flee, but he chased her down as he continued plunging the knife into her body. She made one last attempt to get away by running down to the basement and enclosing herself inside of the bathroom, but with Matthew right behind her, there was no escape.

Once he had her cornered, he grabbed her and banged her head on the side of the toilet. When her grandparents came home and found her in the bathroom, she was slumped over with a fork stuck so far into her back that it was bent backward, according to police. An autopsy report confirmed that she had been stabbed dozens of times. And there was one more bombshell — she was not pregnant.

Semen found in Marlisa Wells’ vagina belonged to Matthew Wilkins, and the blood found on one of his shoes matched Marlisa’s blood, according to court records.

Matthew was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison. They also tacked on an extra 20 years to make sure he never gets out.

Two young lives destroyed because of a secret — a secret boyfriend and a secret pregnancy that never existed.

Even though they lost Marlisa, her family members had a forgiving heart. Read about that here.

Take A Look

  • Real photos of Marlisa Wells can be found on her Facebook page. Matthew Wilkins is still among her list of friends. It looks like over time, the majority of Marlisa Wells’ friends dropped off since there are only 30 friends left.
  • On Matthew Wilkins Facebook page, there are still almost 300 friends.

The murder of Marlisa Wells also aired on an episode of Fatal Attraction on TV One. Watch the story as it’s told on Grave Secrets. It airs on Investigation Discovery at 9/8 p.m. Central tonight.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qqkgknI3pVo

[Featured Image by David Tulis/AP Images]

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