A man confessed to strangling his wife and burning her body with charcoal after after the couple fought at a strip club, prosecutors say.
Jay Hammersley, 44, told police that he choked his 29-year-old wife, Mara Vestal, to death on a bed in their Katy, Texas home on February 16 during the argument that continued from the strip club to their house.
After killing Vestal, Hammersley bought more than 100 pounds of charcoal and cremated her body in his backyard shed – then told an unnamed friend he did a good job and reduced her to ashes, according to prosecutors.
Hammersley reportedly called the unnamed witness after committing the murder and asked for help getting rid of Vestals body.
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The defendant then asked this witness to help get rid of the body. The witness said no and told him to call police, Prosecuta Carvana Cloud told Click2Houston.
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He definitely admitted putting remains in a trash bag and left it on the curb. But he also admitted they didnt pick it up, so he took it elsewhere.
Hammersley then threw the ashes in dumpster, police said. The remains have not yet been found.
He tried to cover up his alleged crime by filing a missing person report on March 19 – weeks after Vestal had been killed.
Police said Hammersley lied to the witness, claiming that he reported the murder to police. Once he discovered that was not true, Hammersleys friend turned him in to authorities.
Hammersley has been charged with murder and tampering with evidence. He is being held on $105,000 bond.
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When you say disturbing, on a scaled of one to 10, its off the charts. This is a very horrific, very tragic, very personal homicide, Cloud said.
Before the alleged murder, Hammersley was already accused of stealing $300,000 from a blind former business partner, William Brooks.
In July 2018, Brooks filed a lawsuit claiming Hammersley took the money from their bRead More – Source
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