Aaron Nelson, Beaver Dam, Wisconsin man kills wife, Alexis Nelson only to then use missing woman’s wedding ring to propose to new girlfriend he met shortly later on Tinder as husband now faces series of charges including murder and hiding a corpse.
A Wisconsin man is reported to have changed his Facebook status to ‘widowed’ after allegedly killing his wife only to use her wedding ring to propose to his new Tinder match, authorities said.
Aaron Nelson, 43, was arrested Friday in the murder and disappearance of his wife, Alexis Nelson, whose body has yet to be located since she vanished over a year ago, according to the Dodge County Sheriff’s Office.
The couple was last spotted on surveillance footage on March 29, 2025, at a Kwik Trip convenience store in Beaver Dam, where they shared an apartment, according to court documents cited by Law and Crime.
Missing Beaver Dam woman; husband arrested, charged with homicide
Alexis Nelson’s phone records showed she moved to Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, roughly 30 miles away before suddenly ‘vanishing’. A day later according to court documents, her husband purchased a 32-gallon trash can, according to prosecutors.
Just days later, Aaron Nelson allegedly created a new Facebook account under the name ‘James Nelson,’ which listed his relationship status as widowed, WISC reported.
The criminal complaint alleges that Aaron told different people his wife had died, claiming to some that it was due to excessive alcohol use and to others that it was cancer, according to WISC News.
It also claims that he was abusive toward Alexis and that a domestic incident led her to file a restraining order, resulting in him having to live with a coworker.
Beaver Dam husband gave conflicting accounts of missing woman’s cause of death
On April 30, 2025, he met a new lover on Tinder, who told investigators she and the alleged killer had already moved in together by the end of May.
While talking with Aaron Nelson’s new girlfriend, cops noted she was wearing an engagement ring — which was later confirmed to belong to his missing wife, according to an arrest affidavit.
A neighbor, Carrie Peaine speaking to WITI-TV News said she often heard the couple fighting inside their home.
In June, police uncovered the 32-gallon trash can at the widower’s new fiancée’s home. It later tested positive for Alexis Nelson’s blood, and a cadaver dog recognized the scent of decaying human remains in a shed on the property, according to authorities.
Though the remains of his wife were never located, Aaron Nelson was arrested last week on charges of first-degree intentional homicide and hiding a corpse.
He was booked in Dodge County Jail and ordered held on a $1 million cash bond, court records show.
Aaron is slated to return to court on May 28.
