A SWAT team found a head, hands, and other sawed up body parts in Savannah, Ga. when they approached Chad Mortez about a friend who had gone missing, MSNBC reports Jan. 21. It was just one of numerous times they paid him a visit in 18 months over other issues.
Mortez was shot dead by a SWAT team sniper when a relative answered the door and whispered to investigators, "He's got a rifle. He's going to kill y'all." When Mortez walked on his front porch Jan. 11 with an assault rifle, that's when he was shot.
Once inside, investigators noticed a foul smell amid the filth inside Mortez's home. They found a head and severed hands inside a hole in the kitchen wall. They found the rest of the missing man's body about 30 minutes away in South Carolina. The dismembered body parts that had been removed by a power saw were in garbage bags. It's believed that Mortez sliced up the man's body so it would be easier to hide.
An autopsy revealed that Charlie Ray, 35, was stabbed more than 40 times and had been dead at least one week before law enforcement found his dismembered body.
Ray's family had been searching for him since New Year's Eve.
Mortez's wife told police that he and Ray were drinking then got into an argument. It turned violent when Mortez grabbed a knife and began stabbing him repeatedly in their kitchen.
Mortez had quite a reputation among his neighbors. They claim he chased his wife with a machete, threatened killing a man with handgun, and had stabbed a dog with a pocket knife.
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