Indiana – An Indiana man was taken into custody last week and charged with murder and abuse of a crpse in connection with the death of his parent, 73-year-old Erick. The charges were filed the following Monday, and prosecutors are seeking a Iife sentence.
The investigation began when the defendant’s, 33-year-old B. Winecke, mother, An, became alarmed by the behavior of her son. She reported that he had been acting delusional and acting very weird and that ongoing heated altercations between father and son had escalated in recent weeks.
Around 9:15 a.m., she said he ran down the stairs of the family home appearing excited, grabbed a large bIade from a kitchen drawer, and drove away. When she was unable to reach her former spouse and became unable to reach him after sending messages, she called police to request a welfare check at his home in Indiana.
Officers arrived at that residence roughly around 10:16 a.m. and discovered a decpitated body in the master bedroom. Investigators noted that the scene showed evidence of a violent confrontation: defensive wounds were visible, bIood spatter covered the walls, and a large knife with a roughly 14-inch blade—possibly deformed after impact—was found at the scene.
While investigators examined the scene, they received surveillance footage showing the defendant approaching the victim’s home shortly before midnight, holding what appeared to be a long object, and exiting later. Further footage captured him leaving the location on the morning of August 15 carrying a plastic bag containing an item “approximately the size of a human head.”
Police then responded to the woman’s home and encountered the defendant outside carrying both a knife and the distinctive plastic bag. He ran inside and barricaded himself, prompting a four-hour standoff during which a SWAT team deployed flash-bang devices to compel him to exit. When officers finally took him into custody, they found the severed head, later confirmed to belong to the victim, inside his bedroom.
During the confrontation, the defendant reportedly spoke with his mother by phone. He allegedly told her, “I killed him. I went over to dad’s because he is the eviIest person that ever lived, I cut his head off.” During questioning, the woman disclosed her son having sent a message telling his father that he ‘un-forgives him’ and that he didn’t want to see of speak to him again.
The defendant remains incarcerated at the county jail and is being held without bond. At his initial court hearing, a not guilty plea was entered on his behalf, and his attorneys announced an intent to pursue an lnsanity defense. A psychiatric evaluation was ordered to assess his mental state and fitness to stand trial. The state prosecutor is still pursuing a life sentence, and a pretrial conference has been scheduled for September 23, with a jury trial to commence February 10, 2026.
