A 33-year-old Indiana man, Bryce Winnecke, is accused of murdering and decapitating his father, 73-year-old Erich Winnecke. Allegedly, he then walked around with a knife and a plastic bag, holding his father’s head.
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According to a probable cause affidavit obtained by the Courier Journal, police made the horrifying discovery on August 15. At around 9:15 a.m., Winnecke’s mother, Ann, who is also Erick’s ex-wife, told police that she had seen Winnecke run down the stairs of her home, grab a knife, and rush out of the residence, located on Callaway Drive.
Minutes later, Ann contacted the police and said that she believed Winnecke might have harmed Erich, as per the affidavit. At the time, she was unable to make contact with the elderly man.
The woman detailed that the relationship between Bryce and Erick Winnecke was frail. They had engaged in “heated debates” over an unspecified topic, and text messages found by police allegedly showed an ongoing friction.
After Ann requested a welfare check, police officers responded to Erich’s Summerline Place residence.
Decapitated Body Found
Meanwhile, at around 10:16 a.m., police responded to the Callaway Drive residence after a Bryce sighting was reported. In the area, officers observed a man walking around the house while holding a knife and a plastic bag, as per the affidavit. Allegedly, the bag appeared to be holding an item “approximately the size of a human head.”
After obtaining a search warrant, officers entered Erich’s home on Summerlin Place at around 11:47 a.m. Inside, police found a decapitated man in the bedroom, with a knife close by. Court records revealed that the scene showed signs of “substantial physical confrontation.”
Surveillance video footage reviewed by police allegedly showed a man, later identified as Winnecke, approaching the Summerlin Place with an “elongated object” before midnight on August 13. An hour later, on August 14, Winnecke is shown exiting the house, as per the affidavit.
Additionally, at around 9:47 a.m. on August 15, the surveillance footage showed Winnecke exiting the house with a plastic bag, as per police. Inside the bag, an “object of significant size” was allegedly observed.
Following a four-hour standoff, Bryce Winnecke was arrested at the Callaway Drive home. Inside the house, police found what is believed to be Erich’s head.
Winnecke is charged with murder and abuse of a corpse. As reported by WLKY, defense attorneys are planning an insanity defense, and a judge granted requests for evaluations for Winnecke’s competence and sanity.