A person is accused of sending horrific and violent textual content messages to his family members shortly after killing his spouse, police mentioned.
The preliminary incident occurred final week however was first reported by native media retailers comparable to KMBC Information on Monday primarily based on newly launched paperwork. On Friday morning, at roughly 10:30 a.m. native time, police in Kansas Metropolis, Missouri, responded to a house within the 7900 block of North Forest after receiving calls from a involved enterprise proprietor. Each John Marvel, 31, and his spouse, Ashley Earhardt, 29, labored for a similar firm and didn’t present up that day, prompting the corporate to request a welfare verify.
Missouri, based on the World Inhabitants Evaluate, has the third highest fee of people that have skilled home violence, including that 41.8 p.c of Missouri ladies and 35.2 p.c of males expertise bodily violence from an intimate companion, sexual violence, or stalking.
Upon arriving on the dwelling, officers met with the household of resident Ashley Ehrhardt, 29. After a search of the house was carried out, a physique, later recognized as Erhardt, was discovered within the laundry room, bare, with a belt wrapped round her. Neck, meat cleaver and butcher knife. Nobody else was discovered within the dwelling on the time. Whereas the laundry room door was opened, it was secured with an extended bungee twine. Police additionally famous a very grotesque element concerning the physique: the phrase “Marvel” was written in blood on considered one of Earhardt’s legs.
Relations on the scene tried to contact Marvel, to no avail. Whereas the couple was nonetheless married, officers discovered they have been within the midst of a divorce. Police have been later contacted by one other member of the family who shared a screenshot of a horrific message they acquired from Marvel after he disappeared on Friday: “Hello child. Sorry concerning the mess. To enroll: It is means simpler and far more satisfying than you possibly can think about. See you round “
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Later, a pal of Marvel’s reached out with a number of letters he had acquired from him. Within the first message, he claimed he was headed north to Fargo and would quickly throw his cellphone out his automotive window. As he continued to speak, the messages turned more and more extra disturbing and violent.
“She’s now exhausted, and in a rage, she locations her gems subsequent to her physique. Her third eye chakra, her moonstone, blah blah blah – they’ve accomplished you a lot good, hun,” one message learn.
“I am within the automotive. I’ve little question that I shall be arrested right this moment. (Deleted) What a lady. To honor her, I can’t exit with a gunshot wound (suicide by cop) however, hopefully, I’ll meet the same destiny.” (Revised),” additional studying.
“In a small city in North Mo – I believe they may discover her physique by now. I began getting calls at 9:30am. I am positive the (redacted) cellphone acquired the identical factor,” Marvel wrote in one other message.
Marvel was ultimately arrested later within the day in Valentine, Nebraska, a small city with a inhabitants of lower than 3,000 close to the state’s border with South Dakota, about 500 miles northwest of Kansas Metropolis. He was taken into police custody and charged with first-degree homicide and armed prison motion in reference to the alleged killing of his spouse.
Newsweek I reached out to Kansas Metropolis police by way of e-mail for remark.