Texas man in jail after allegedly decapitating his newlywed wife
A 21-year-old Texas man remained jailed Friday after authorities accused him of killing and decapitating his wife.
Jared Dicus has been charged with murder in the death of 21-year-old Anggy Diaz. Dicus is being held on a $500,000 bond.
Waller County Sheriff Troy Guidry said authorities found Diaz's body Wednesday afternoon at a home the couple shared in a rural area near Magnolia, located about 44 miles northwest of Houston.
"It's a gruesome crime," Guidry said.
Dicus was found at the murder scene and arrested, Guidry said. The sheriff told reporters that Dicus later confessed to the killing. Investigators believe a kitchen knife was used in the slaying.
Court records did not list an attorney for Dicus who could speak on his behalf.
Guidry said authorities are still trying to determine a motive.
Diaz's friends told CBS affiliate KHOU-TV that she was an immigrant from Nicaragua who had been working two jobs to help pay for her mother's cancer treatment back home.
Surveillance video from a store where Diaz worked appears to show Dicus pulling up in the parking lot around 11:40 a.m. on the day she was found dead, KHOU-TV reported. The video appears to show him walking into the store and grabbing a beer before he appears to be seen opening the beer, taking a sip and driving away.
Surveillance video from the store where Anggy Diaz worked appears to show her husband Jared James Dicus pulling up in the parking lot around 11:40 a.m. on the day she was found dead. https://t.co/FQtrGBjjb8
— KHOU 11 News Houston (@KHOU) January 13, 2023
Guidry said there were prior calls of a disturbance made from the home but "nothing to this effect or level of violence," KHOU reported.
"That's the world we live in today. It's a gruesome scene," Guidry said. "Both sides of these families will be altered by it."
Waller County Judge Trey Duhon said in a statement on Facebook that he had married the couple in October.
"During my short time with them, they were a very nice young couple," Duhon wrote, adding: "I'm greatly saddened and shocked by the news of this tragic event and my prayers are with all of their families."
A fundraiser set up by the victim's family called Diaz "the light to our family and community." It had raised more than $20,000 as of Friday afternoon.