Indiana man charged with murder and arson after allegedly beheading woman and setting her apartment on fire

Firefighters were called to the scene of an apartment that caught fire in Clarksville, Indiana on Tuesday morning when they discovered the headless body of a 67-year-old woman inside the house in fire.

Clarksville Police responded to the scene and immediately began reviewing surveillance footage and surveying the area, leading them to Brian Williams, 36, whom they arrested less than eight hours later on charges of murder and arson .

Surveillance footage showed Williams leaving Melody Gambetty’s apartment with suitcases on Monday afternoon, Major Joel DeMoss told a press conference on Wednesday, adding that it was a failed flight .

When police found Williams at his home, they discovered these suitcases containing dismembered body parts.

MAN FROM TEXAS PLAES GUILTY IN 1995, MURDER OF MOTHER IN CALIFORNIA, AUTHORITIES INDICATE

A probable cause affidavit obtained by Fox affiliate WDRB stated that “inside one of the victim’s suitcases was a human skull, with full facial tissue to include attached hair, believed to belong to the victim (deceased) “. A small hand saw with blood on the blade was also in the suitcase, along with a “plastic container with a lid, containing several human fingers (fingers and toes),” according to the affidavit.

“Yesterday’s crime scene, in my 23 years, is one of the most horrific we’ve been involved in,” Major DeMoss said Wednesday.

Gambetty was also stabbed wounded, DeMoss said, but the official cause of death will not be known until after an autopsy Thursday morning.

Williams’ defense attorney lobbied in court to have him released from prison under supervision, but the judge ordered him to be held in Clark County Jail without bail, the WDRB reported. His next court date is September 1.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

The homicide took place in Clarksville, Indiana, a town of about 20,000 people across the Ohio River from Louisville, Kentucky.

“Clarksville is a small community. We are very close here,” Clarksville Police Chief Mark Palmer said Wednesday. “So when you have such a heinous crime like this… it sends a shockwave throughout the community.”