Defendant Frederick Hengl at his arraignment at the Vista Courthouse Wednesday standing with Deputy Public Defender Alejandro Morales. — Bill Wechter
VISTA — A 68-year-old man pleaded not guilty to murder on Wednesday, five days after police found his wife’s severed head in the freezer and her body parts cooking on the stove of their Oceanside home.
A Vista Superior Court judge ordered Frederick Joseph Hengl to remain jailed on $5 million bail. Hengl faces 25 years to life in prison if convicted of all charges, which include willful cruelty to an elder and committing an unlawful act with human remains.
He appeared frail in court, and his lawyer requested he see jail medical staff for a heart condition.
Just after 11 a.m. on Friday, police went to Hengl’s home on North Ditmar Street, less than a block from Oceanside City Hall, after neighbors called to complain about a foul odor coming from the bungalow-style house.
The first officer who entered the home through a window saw three pans of “meat” cooking on the stove, and authorities later realized it was parts of the victim, said Deputy District Attorney Katherine Flaherty.
“There is no evidence of cannibalism at this time,” Flaherty said.
The prosecutor said the victim was Hengl’s 73-year-old wife, Anna Faris. Property records show the couple purchased the two-bedroom home in 2002.
Faris is believed to have been killed sometime after Nov. 1. Although her autopsy was done on Saturday, a determination of her cause of death is still pending.
How horrible.
ReplyDeleteCatherine this is right out of the sci-fi channel (I had to read this twice ) and say 'what the hell' !
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