Docs: Crawfordsville man charged with wife’s murder after severed head found in cellar
CRAWFORDSVILLE, Ind. (WISH) — A Crawfordsville man has been charged with the murder of his wife. Police said her severed head was found buried in a cellar.
Michael Parks, 44, faces charges for the murder of his wife, Hope Parks.
Investigators say her headless body was discovered by the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office on County Road 225 West on the Sugar Creek Bridge on August 20.
Court documents said while police were at the scene on the bridge, Parks arrived at the Crawfordsville Police Department to report that Hope had been missing since August 18, when they had an argument. He told police she drove off in a vehicle being driven by an unknown person.
Parks granted permission for authorities to search his residence to “help ascertain where Mrs. Parks might have gone and with whom she may have left the residence.”
Investigators found dried blood in the driveway, then more in the garage with a shoe print in it, leading to police to seek a search warrant.
While searching the residence, investigators found the severed head buried in the cellar along with rags covered in blood.
Their search also recovered a tarp they believe Parks’ used to transport the body from their home to the bridge.
Police found a .22 rifle and ammunition, along with a spent .22 casing in the yard near more blood.
A medical examination conducted in Terre Haute revealed she had been shot in the back of the head.
Online court records indicated Parks will make an initial appearance in court on Tuesday at 11 a.m.
Seth Hubble lives down the street from the Parks’ home. He shot this video the day that Michael reported Hope missing that shows police towing his car off the property. He said he thought something terrible had happened because of what his wife had heard the night before.
“She had come outside on the porch and she heard somebody screaming get off of me please let me go,” said Hubble.
Neighbors are in disbelief that something like this could have happened right under their noses and no one had any idea.
“The gun shot I didn’t hear. Them I am thinking how could I not hear a gunshot like that,” said one neighbor who lives across the street from the Parks home.
“200 yards from my house this guy is chopping his wife up and putting her in the basement. It is scary it really is,” said Hubble.
