Arizona law enforcement officials are investigating what prompted a bloody domestic assault in Phoenix this weekend that left a woman and her two dogs decapitated. The victim’s husband, who is the chief suspect in the case, apparently cut off part of his own arm and plucked out one of his eyeballs in what police spokesman Sgt.Trent Crump described as an “absolutely horrific scene”, according to The Arizona Republic on Sunday, July 26.
The grisly scene was discovered Saturday morning when a neighbor decided to do a welfare check on the married couple, whom he knew suffered from mental health issues. When the husband opened the door he was naked, and there was blood everywhere.
The neighbor called the police, who entered the home and discovered the decapitated body of 49-year-old Trina Heisch in a bedroom closet along with two dogs. The animals had also been mutilated. Also, the suspect’s arm was severed at the elbow and one of his eyeballs had been removed.
The neighbor, identified by Fox 10 News Phoenix as George Loney, had a hunch that something was wrong next door. Loney said he knocked on the door and when it opened, he saw what looked like a slaughter house.
“It looked like a massacre in her kitchen…”, Lonely told reporters. He’d knocked on his neighbor’s door just before 10:00 a.m. Saturday, only to discover the gruesome scene inside.
Large amounts of blood was spread across floors, cabinets and walls of the apartment. The 43-year-old suspect, who police have not named, is believed to be Heisch’s husband.
Medics rushed the suspect to an area hospital where he underwent surgery. Police say the suspect admitted to killing “three of his family members,” but is unknown at this time if he was referring to his wife and the two dogs. Investigators are contacting other family members to make sure all are accounted for.
Sgt. Crump said several knives were found inside the home, but it’s not yet known which may have been used in the grisly killings. Police say the suspect will be charged in Heisch’s murder when released from the hospital.
Investigators said both the suspect and victim have a history of mental illness, domestic violence and drug abuse. The suspect was arrested in 2003 for attempting to kill a family member.
According to police, the victim was arrested just in March for a domestic violence assault, when it was alleged she tried to stab the suspect. Police also said family members reported that the two met and married after meeting in a mental health facility.
Loney, who’s only known the couple for four months, said he checked on the couple daily due to their mental illness issues. But, he said, never in a million years did he see this coming.
