"I Cut His Head Off," Cops Find Dad Decapitated After Son's Vile Confession| Crime Alert 6PM 08.19.2025

A welfare check call to cops leads to a gruesome discovery; a dad's severed head in one place, his body in another. Now the victim's son is under arrest. 

A mother is facing capital murder charges after confession to her baby's dad, "I killed a demon."  Plus, a cop caught in the act! Jennifer Gould reports. 

 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Crime Alart hourly update, Breaking crime news Now. I'm Jennifer Gould.
A mother's desperate call for a welfare check on her
ex husband spiraled into a gruesome crime scene investigation, an
armed standoff, and a chilling confession from her own son.
Bryce Winnikee, thirty three, is now in custody, charged with

(00:23):
murder and abusive a corpse after allegedly beheading his own father,
Eric Winnicky Senior and hiding the severed head. This neighbor
spoke to w DRB News, It's just crazy to think
that somebody can flip that quick and something like this
can happen. According to a probable cause affidavit, the horrific

(00:46):
sequence of events began when the mother, Ann Winnikee, called
police expressing concern that her son had harmed his father.
She told authorities there was quote serious contention end quote
between the two and that Bryce had been acting quote
delusional and very weird end quote. Before police arrived, she

(01:06):
and another son went to the father's home, where they
made the unthinkable discovery, Eric Winnicke Senior's decapitated body, covered
in multiple stab wounds, with blood spattered all over the walls.
And ceiling. Here's the call to nine one one. So far,
this is gonna be graphic. But his head was cut off,

(01:27):
and we don't know where his head is, and then
called Bryce, who allegedly confessed, quote I killed him. I
went over to dad's because he is the evilest person
that ever lived. I cut his head off end quote.
The trail of carnage did not end. Their authorities found
a damaged knife measuring between twelve and fourteen inches long

(01:49):
near the body. Investigators also viewed ring camera footage from
the victim's home, which showed Bryce leaving the scene that
morning with a quote plastic bag with an object of
significant size end quote that was approximately quote the size
of a human head. The evidence led police a mile
away to his mom's home, where Bryce lived. He barricaded

(02:12):
himself inside, leading to a tense four hours standoff before
he was taken into custody without incident. Following his arrest,
officers secured a search warrant for the home. In a
quote unquote secret room under the stairs, they found a
plastic bag containing the victim's severed head. Police confirmed the

(02:34):
identity by comparing the head to the father's government issued
ID Winnicky is being held in the Clark County Jail
with a hearing set for August twentieth. He has no
prior criminal history. Court record show authorities continued to investigate
the full motive behind this grisly crime or crime injustice

(02:56):
news after this. An Alabama mother is now facing a
capital murder rap after she allegedly told her child's father
she quote killed a demon end quote and then led
him to a scene of pure hell, their infant son
brutally beaten and on the brink of death. When asked

(03:20):
about the tragic events, Thornton's story was a bizarre contradiction.
This is what she told reporters outside the courthouse. Listen
and put my son to bed. I swaddled him and
put him to bed at seven o'clock. Do you remember anything,
I'll do it try to give him. CPRD cops were
called to the home of thirty five year old Morgan

(03:40):
Thornton in the dead of night, where they found her
standing outside covered in her own child's blood. Inside the
infant's room was a nightmare. Blood spatter smeared the walls
and the diaper genius sickening testament to a vicious assault.
Testifying in court, investigators revealed the boy his father told

(04:00):
them Thornton woke him up with the shocking claim before
guiding him to the tiny victim. The child was found
atop a diaper. Genie authority said Thornton appeared intoxicated and
that empty bottles of vodka and quote unquote two shooters
were found in the home. The baby, eight month old
Jonah James Thornton, was found severely beaten and unresponsive. He

(04:25):
was declared dead at the scene, and autopsy later confirmed
the cause of death as blunt force injuries, with the
extent of the damage indicating a brutal assault, turning a
horrific abuse charge into a capital murder case. Court records
reveal Thornton's history of mental health issues, but no specific
diagnosis has been disclosed. With the case now heading to

(04:49):
a grand jury, Thornton remains locked up without bond. Her
next court appearance is set for September. And finally talk
about getting caught in the act. A former Nashville cop
just got a very different kind of bust. Sean Herman,
an ex officer, has pleaded his case after he was

(05:09):
allegedly caught on video in a raunchy on duty only
fans skit. Herman, who was supposed to be on patrol,
was allegedly filmed groping a woman's chest and touching himself
during a mock traffic stop if you will. The saucy
clip was called can't believe he didn't arrest me. He
was quickly escorted out of the police department and is

(05:31):
now facing a new kind of lockdown. Herman managed to
dodge jail, pleading best interest to felony official misconduct, which
landed him a one year of probation. It seems his
career went from serving and protecting to simply serving a
sentence for the latest crime. In justice news, follow the
Crime Alert hourly update on your favorite podcast app with

(05:54):
this Crime Alert. I'm Jennifer Gould.