LOWELL, MASS. (WHDH) - A man accused of killing a woman who was reported missing more than a year ago, then burying her remains under his home garage in Tyngsboro appeared in court Tuesday.
Shawn Sullivan, of Tyngsboro, is charged with the murder of 47-year-old Jill Kloppenburg, who was last seen in Lowell in January 2025. He pleaded not guilty to the charge in Lowell District Court.
Investigators located Kloppenburg’s body under the concrete garage of Sullivan’s home where he lived with his parents. Prosecutors said Sullivan confessed to shooting Kloppenburg by accident in his bedroom, leaving her there for two days before burying her body.
“The defendant kept Jill’s body in his room for a couple of days. He then brought Jill’s body to the garage, where he dug a hole in the concrete, placed her body in the hole, and then filled the hole, covering the garage floor with concrete and epoxy,” said Prosecutor Ceara Mahoney.
Sullivan’s attorney called the murder an unfortunate and tragic accident.
“It would be an involuntary manslaughter. It doesn’t matter legally, obviously it matters to all of us as humans, what happened in the aftermath. It’s at the time of the killing, did he have malice. And he didn’t, it was an accident,” said Sullivan’s Defense Attorney Ryan Sullivan.
“She didn’t deserve it at all,” a friend of Klopperburg said outside court. “Nobody does, nobody. She’s a human. She was a mother, friend, a sister, a daughter.”
Sullivan is being held without bail. He is due back in court in April.
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