Alabama woman accused of leaving dismembered partner’s remains in car
Police in Alabama say a woman is behind bars after allegedly fatally shooting her partner and then dismembering him with a chainsaw while their young child was in the home. RadarOnline.com can reveal.
On August 27, Benito Morales Guzman was reported missing to the Geneva Sheriff’s Office, according to court documents obtained by WDHN TV.
Officers went to his home in the Fadette community, where he lived with 41-year-old Joselina Lopez, and discovered his dismembered body in a car on their property, officials said.
On August 29, officers arrested Lopez and charged her with intentional homicide.
During Lopez’s hearing on September 3, an Alabama State Bureau of Investigation detective testified that a “strong odor” was coming from the vehicle on the couple’s property.
Officers looked inside the car and saw a chainsaw and Guzman’s dismembered body, which the detective said had been placed in trash bags in the back seat.
Court records obtained by AL.com showing that the chainsaw found in the vehicle still contained human flesh.
Detectives searched the Guzman and Lopez home and found a gun, an axe, knives, chainsaws and receipts for the tools, authorities said.
Officials believe Guzman was shot several times before being dismembered.
Investigators said the victim and suspect’s four-year-old child may have been present in the family’s home when Guzman was killed.
According to the court, state authorities believed Lopez was planning to flee the country because they found another vehicle on the property containing a child’s car seat, a packed diaper bag, the child’s birth certificate and Lopez’s passport.
During the bail hearing, Lopez’s team argued that she killed Guzman in self-defense, but prosecutors said Lopez could not provide evidence to support the charge.
Authorities noted that Lopez has relatives in Mexico and Guatemala, and in a recording made while Lopez was in prison in Geneva, she allegedly told a relative, “I should have left sooner.”
According to officials, Guzman was described as “completely” dismembered and is believed to have been killed between August 24 and 27.
