According to court documents and video footage, an Indiana man who is accused of killing his father following a string of acrimonious arguments also allegedly chopped off his head and carried it around in a plastic bag.
After an hours-long confrontation with police at his mother’s home in Jeffersonville, Bryce Winnecke was taken into custody on Friday, according to WLKY. In relation to the gruesome death of his father, Erich Winnecke, 73, he is facing charges of murder and mistreatment of a corpse. He might be sentenced to life in jail if found guilty.
Winnecke’s defense team filed a number of motions at his first court appearance on Tuesday, including notifications of their intention to raise the defense of mental illness or defect or insanity, according to WHAS 11.
According to his lawyers, the stated facts of the case in the underlying probable cause affidavit might point to a mental illness or defect or some form of psychiatric break.
Winnecke’s father informed his ex-wife, Ann Winnecke, who is also the suspect’s mother, two days prior to his arrest that their son had been exhibiting strange and delusional behavior.Local media sites were able to obtain a probable cause document stating that Erich stopped replying to her texts the following day.
When she contacted the police at 9:56 a.m. on Friday to request a welfare check, they found Erich’s beheaded body inside his house.
After the suspected killer was apprehended, authorities claimed to have discovered the head in a plastic bag in a hidden chamber beneath the stairs.
Ann informed the authorities that before Erich’s death, the father and son had engaged in contentious arguments. The affidavit stated that the subject was a persistent source of significant disagreement, but it did not elaborate on the details of their arguments.
in the moment, Winnecke is being detained in the Clark County Jail.
