In story that almost rivals the Kurt Struebing case on the what-the-fuck meter, authorities in Crescent City, CA have charged aspiring mixed martial arts fighter Jarrod Wyatt (above), 26, with murder, aggravated mayhem and torture. From The Times Standard’s John Driscoll :
Attorney Mike Riese, Sgt. Elwood Lee said he was dispatched to Requa on March 21 to meet a man who had reported a stabbing nearby. Lee met the man, later identified as Justin Davis, who took them to the Fizer Road house in question. When Lee entered the house, he noticed what he believed to be dried blood on some cabinets in the entryway, and broken glass on the floor. Drywall had been discovered on a wall, Lee said. He heard someone mumbling in the living room, and saw a foot sticking out from a couch.
Lee testified that he saw a man, later identified as Wyatt standing near a body on a couch, naked and covered from head to toe in what appeared to be dried blood. Wyatt said, I killed him, Lee said.
Lee was able to cuff Wyatt without incident, and then he proceeded to look at the body on the couch. The body had had the majority of its face removed, and an 18-inch incision in its chest cavity. Lee said that he did not attempt first aid because he could see the man was dead.
At one point, Lee said, œ(Wyatt) asked if we were God, or if we were God coming to save him.
Lee said that Wyatt said he’d cut out Powell’s tongue, and that he’d removed his heart. He also mentioned that there had been a œbig fight in the kitchen. Wyatt told him that when he’d looked at Powell’s face he’d seen the devil, Lee said.
Riese said that the act of mutilating Powell’s body itself took a substantial amount of time and showed evidence of intent, and that the removal of Powell’s face showed extreme, callous indifference.