A blood-soaked man was taken into custody in Florida after pointing officers to a man’s body lying on a patio and declaring: “He is dead.”
Matthew Weldon, 37, was arrested and charged with second-degree murder in Palm Harbor on Tuesday 21 May after he allegedly killed a man during an argument over a borrowed car.
Mr Weldon allegedly turned up at two separate neighbor’s homes and confessed to the murder, prompting them to call 911.
According to an arrest affidavit, Mr Weldon first told one neighbor that he had killed someone.
When the neighbor said that he was going to call 911, the suspect allegedly said “No, No, No” and ran off.
The suspect then ran to another neighbor’s house, where he again confessed to have just killed someone, the arrest affidavit said.
The first neighbor called police at around 3.30pm with officers arriving on the scene to find Mr Weldon in front of the residence and “covered in blood,” the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release.
Mr Weldon allegedly told the responding deputies that “he is dead,” before pointing towards a home.
At that home, officers found the victim, later identified as 49-year-old Carroll Bryan, on the back patio suffering from multiple blunt force injuries to his head, neck and arm. Bryan was pronounced dead at the scene.
Based on the evidence at the scene, investiagators said it appeared that Bryan was on the rear patio of the residence when he was struck in the back of the head. While on the ground, he was repeatedly struck again and again.
The arrest affidavit alleges that Mr Weldon used a “blunt/sharp object” to strike the victim.
The suspect also sustained minor injuries in the incident, it states.
During the investigation into the killing, authorities learned that Mr Weldon had met Bryan at a local bar in Clearwater around two weeks earlier.
Mr Weldon offered to help Bryan and, one week before his death, loaned him his vehicle.
However, Bryan allegedly failed to return the vehicle when he was supposed to, and Mr Weldon became upset, according to the sheriff’s office.
Bryan then showed up with Mr Weldon’s vehicle on Tuesday and the two got into an argument, which ultimately turned deadly, authorities said.
On Friday, a public defender entered a not guilty plea on Mr Weldon’s behalf and made a formal demand for discovery, reported Law&Crime. Mr Weldon is currently being held in Pinellas County Jail.
