Alabama authorities arrested a couple who put their 19-year old son’s dead body in a freezer after new homeowners made the gruesome discovery.
Henry County Sheriff’s Deputies arrested Michael Shane Halstead, 44, and Karen Tysinger Halstead, 42, in Jack, Alabama in Coffee County.
Henry County Sheriff Eric Blankenship said, “The couple are currently under police custody at the Henry County Jail and are being charged with one count of Abuse of a Corpse.”
“We received a call at 11:37 a.m. and when officers responded they found the body at 296 Bradford Drive,” Blankenship added. “The decomposed body, believed to be 19-year-old Logan Michael Halstead, was found in a freezer outside of Halstead’s previous home.”
Investigators questioned the Halsteads before charging them with the crime. After the were arrested in Jack, they were taken back to Henry County.
On Monday, the appeared before a judge in court and were issued a bond of $175,000 each by Judge James Peterson in a preliminary hearing.
The Halstead’s youngest children, 13-year old twin boys, are currently under the care of the Alabama Department of Human Resources.
The landlord sold the Halstead’s house to the current homeowners in September. While the new owners were cleaning their new property, they made the horrific discovery of finding a decomposed body.
“The body had been in the freezer since late August,” Blankenship stated. “This tragic incident has geared our agency into finding the truth. The investigation is still ongoing and information will continue to be released as the case progresses.”
The authorities are currently in the initial stages of the investigation and the deceased’s body has been taken to the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences for an official autopsy.
In addition to working with the forensics team, Blankenship stated the deceased was receiving disability benefits due to his ongoing medical issues. These included spina bifida.
Blankenship said the parents could face murder charges depending on the outcome of the autopsy.
“So far we have learned that the father tried to hide his son’s body from his wife and other children. Before putting Logan in the backyard freezer, Michael wrapped his son’s body in a plastic bag, blankets, and a shower curtain, before covering him in cardboard. Following the disposal of Logan’s body, Micheal moved his family into a hotel room to hide it further,” Blankenship reported.
During the court trial, Michael testified that his wife had no knowledge of the alleged crime. However, authorities believe she did have knowledge of the crime before the arrests were made.
Michael had called the Headland Police Department on October 11 and reported that he had hidden his son’s body. However, the officers claimed they searched the property, found nothing, and then decided to leave.
Sheriff Blankenship said that the father claimed to have suffered a manic episode and couldn’t remember how his son ended up in the freezer.
On the same day as his alleged confession, Michael was arrested by Dothan Police, who reportedly jailed him for 10 days for failing to appear in court on domestic violence charges.
