TACOMA, Wash. – Officials say two women found dead in a Tacoma house fire last week were decapitated by a man during a drug binge.
KCPQ-TV reports 32-year-old Matthew Leupold was charged Wednesday with murder and arson.
Prosecutors say Leupold told police he heard voices telling him to kill Theresa Greenhalgh and Mary Buras Jan. 4.
Lindsey Leupold, Matthew's sister, was charged with rendering criminal assistance.
Probable cause documents say the Leupolds were using drugs with Greenhalgh and Buras when Matthew Leupold said he began hearing voices and hit Greenhalgh and Buras in the head with a framing hammer. Documents say Leupold dragged both women into a bathroom, where he cut off their heads.
Documents say a boy who police say had been at the house told them he came back on a different night and helped Matthew Leupold set fire to the house.
The hottest stories ripped from the headlines, from crime to courts, legal and scandal.
