Milwaukee - An 18-year-old Hartland man was charged Monday with killing his girlfriend in their apartment near the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee early Saturday.
Eric Tavulares was charged in a criminal complaint with first-degree reckless homicide for strangling his live-in girlfriend, Lauren Aljubouri, 18 of Hartland. The couple lived in an apartment in the 2400 block of N. Frederick Ave.
According to the complaint Tavulares was fascinated with the 1994 film "Natural Born Killers," a movie about two victims of traumatized childhoods who become lovers and then psychopathic serial killers that are irresponsibly glorified by the media.
Tavulares told MJilwaukee police he had watched the film 10 to 20 times and he and Aljubouri watched part of the film Friday night. Early Saturday morning while talking to Aljubouri "something caused him to switch mentally" and he started to strangle Aljubouri, according to the complaint. Tavulares told police he is not sure exactly what happened.