Alleged killer was also accused of beating pregnant ex-girlfriend so badly she lost 3 of 4 babies

CHICAGO (Fox 32 News) - Gruesome details have emerged in the murder of a Gary woman who went missing last month after a concert in Tinley Park.

The suspect is accused of beating the victim in his home and then dumping the body in a Cook County forest preserve. Her remains were found Monday and on Thursday, we learned the alleged killer had a friend with him when he dumped the body.

"I think it's very horrible," said neighbor Dollette Kindred.

Residents were stunned to hear the news that their neighbor, 38-year-old James McGhee, is behind bars charged with murdering a Gary woman. He was arrested Wednesday night in Hammond, Indiana by state and federal agents.

Prosecutors say McGhee brought Sidne-Nichole Buchanan back to his Gary apartment after they attended a concert together in Tinley Park.

Court documents show investigators used cellphone records to lead them to McGhee's apartment. When they went inside, they found bloodstains and a strong smell of cleaning chemicals.

McGhee, who had been dating Buchanan for three months, had allegedly gone through her phone after the concert and saw a sexually explicit photo of her with someone else, the documents state. McGhee did so after he noticed that Buchanan received a call from an "on again, off again" boyfriend.

Police spoke to a man who says he was there when McGhee disposed of her body.

Court documents show McGhee told the man he "thinks he messed up and was thinking about killing himself."

McGhee also told the man that "he thought she was asleep, but she never woke up."

Prosecutors say McGhee's friend went to the suspect's apartment and saw what he believed to be a body in black plastic bags near the foot of the bed and later saw McGhee carry a suitcase into a wooded area in Illinois just west of 394 near Lansing.

Court documents show the man told police that "McGhee showed him a photograph of a female believed to be Buchanan and McGhee said, 'I beat her up bad. This is when she was living.'"

Neighbors say FBI agents scoured the area around the apartment building on Burr Street about a week ago.

"They were looking up the road for her, all around here, everywhere," said neighbor Anthony Kindred. "The FBI? They were riding up the streets, kept the kids in."

"They stood in this area talking to neighbors…telling everybody to stay inside," he added.

McGhee appeared in bond court Friday morning and plead not guilty. He is being held without bail and his next court date is October 10.

Two years ago, McGhee was also accused of beating his girlfriend at the time so badly that she lost three of the quadruplets she was pregnant with. Those charges were dropped due to lack of victim cooperation.