An Indiana man has been arrested after his decapitated father’s body was found at one home and the head at another.
Bryce Winnecke, 33, had been set to appear in court on Monday, WAVE reported, but the hearing was postponed because of a medical emergency.
A 911 caller reported the crime Friday morning shortly before 10 a.m.
“This is gonna be graphic, but his head was cut off,” the caller told a dispatcher. “We don’t know where his head is.”
According to WLKY, the victim’s ex-wife made an initial 911 requesting a welfare check on Erich Winnecke, 73. The suspect was later found at her home, less than a mile away, where he barricaded himself inside and refused to come out.
Police used flashbangs and gas to force the younger man out of the home and eventually took him into custody about four hours later.
Police said the ex-wife and another son went to the father’s home after several days of troubling texts with the suspect followed by the father’s non-response to texts. They found the the body.
Investigators found the victim in his bedroom with “significant evidence of defensive wounds” and stab wound to his chest, a criminal complaint said. There was blood spatter on all the walls, and investigators recovered a large knife from the scene.
While police were on the scene, Bryce Winnecke spoke with his mother — who was at the victim’s home — by phone.
“I killed him,” he allegedly said. “I went over to dad’s because he is the evilest person that ever lived. I cut his head off.”
According to the complaint, Winnecke was seen walking to his mother’s home carrying a plastic bag “approximately the size of a human head.” He was carrying a knife and ran inside when police arrived on the scene.
Once Winnecke was in custody, officers found his father’s head in the son’s bedroom.
He has been charged with murder and abuse of a corpse. His initial hearing has been rescheduled for Tuesday afternoon, WLKY said.
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[Featured image: Bryce Winnecke/Clark County Jail]
