An Indiana man allegedly severed his father’s head and carried it around in a plastic bag outside his family’s home — after several “heated debates” between the two.
Bryce Winnecke, 33, was arrested after a lengthy standoff with police on Friday and charged with murder and abuse of a corpse for the gruesome killing of his 73-year-old father, Erich Winnecke.
Ann Winnecke, Bryce’s mother and Erich’s ex-wife, reported her son’s “delusional” behavior to authorities on Friday after he bolted from their Jeffersonville home early in the morning with a knife from the kitchen, appearing “excited” as he sped off in a car, according to a probable cause affidavit obtained by the Courier Journal.
She called the police around 10 a.m. and told officers she was worried her son might’ve harmed his father. Ann tried unsuccessfully to reach Erich.
Bryce had been expressing frustration with his father, noting a deep friction in text messages and statements cited in the affidavit.
Ann said her son and ex-husband were frequently engaging in “heated debates,” but the exact nature of the “source of contention” wasn’t specified in the affidavit.
By the time police arrived at Erich’s home around 10:16 a.m., they spotted a man near the residence carrying a plastic bag with some sort of object that was “approximately the size of a human head,” according to the affidavit.
Police returned with a search warrant an hour and a half later and rushed inside. They followed a distinct trail of blood all the way up to the master bedroom where they found Erich’s headless body and an abandoned knife, according to the affidavit.
The rest of the carnage at the scene indicated a “substantial physical confrontation,” according to the court filing.
Authorities rushed to Ann’s home, where a tense four-hour standoff with Bryce ensued.
Once the suspect was eventually cuffed, police found recovered a decapitated head they believe belonged to Erich inside the home.
It’s unclear how long Erich was dead when authorities discovered his body.
The surveillance footage at Erich’s house caught Bryce walking towards the front door with an “elongated object” in hand just before midnight on Aug. 13 and leaving an hour later.
Footage from Friday morning also captured a man authorities believe was Bryce exiting the home with “an object of significant size” in a plastic bag.
Bryce is currently being held in the Clark County Jail and is scheduled to appear in court on Tuesday.
Prosecutors are seeking a sentence of life in prison, according to court records.
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