MOHAVE VALLEY, Ariz. (AP) - Mohave County authorities say a 33-year-old man has been arrested in the unprovoked hatchet killing of an acquaintance while both were visiting a Mohave Valley residence.
The Sheriff’s Office said deputies responding to a report of an assault Thursday encountered Nicholas Umphress of Mohave Valley and then found 33-year-old Victor Hernandez of Mohave Valley dead “with obvious trauma to the head.”
A Sheriff’s Office statement said the floor where the body was found was flooded with water “as if someone had tried to clean the area.”
The statement said witnesses told investigators that Umphress “had been acting strange and pacing in the living room before the unprovoked attack.”
Umphress remained in jail Friday after being arrested on suspicion of premeditated first-degree murder.
Online court records don’t list a defense attorney for Umphress who could comment on his behalf on the allegations.
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