Hickory Man Enters Plea To Second-Degree Murder

A Hickory man will spend at least 26 years in prison for brutally beating a woman to death on Mother’s Day in 2022.

Eddie Dante Propst, 37, entered an Alford plea to second-degree murder during Catawba County Superior Court on Tuesday. The charge is for the death of 29-year-old Laura Matthews. An Alford plea means a defendant is not admitting guilt but he is stating that he understands that it’s in his best interest to plead guilty based on evidence.

Propst was sentenced to 26 years and four months to 32 years and eight months in prison.

On May 8, 2022, Hickory Police responded to 330 Eighth Ave. SE where the officers found Matthews dead in a bedroom. An autopsy revealed Matthews had a broken neck, a broken nose, a punctured lung, a pulverized liver, a broken left jaw, every rib on her right side broken, five ribs on her left side broken and semen in her vagina and anus.

Photo: Hickory Police Department

The Hickory Daily Record contributed to this story