CORTEZ, Colo. – A Montezuma County man charged with killing his father told police he shot his father in the head after he was raped by the man, then dismembered the body and fed flesh to coyotes, according to court documents obtained by the Cortez Journal.
Jeremiah R. Berry, 20, was charged with second-degree murder Wednesday in county court in the death of Jack Berry, 42, who had been missing since February. Detectives found body parts at several locations in the county.
Jeremiah Berry told police he shot Jack Berry in a canyon on or about Feb. 19, according to a county sheriff's office search warrant affidavit. He said his father told him that day he had been told by God his son needed a sex change to become his wife. He said Jack Berry then raped him, the Journal reported.
After the shooting, Jeremiah Berry said he stabbed the body 199 times and dismembered the body, feeding flesh to coyotes, the affidavit said. Over the next two days, Jeremiah Berry carried the body parts out of a canyon in buckets.
Jeremiah Berry told officials he placed buckets containing body parts in a storage room at a dog kennel and disposed of a pistol, ax and knives in the Animas River in Durango, the document said. Officials recovered the buckets on April 29.
Jeremiah Berry is being held at the county detention center on $500,000 bond. A preliminary hearing is set for June 20.
County Judge Todd Plewe agreed to unseal some documents and court orders after the Cortez Journal filed a motion seeking their release.
A gag order remains in effect in the case.
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