An Arizona man told police he kept his teenage girlfriend’s body for days “because he wanted to be close to her,” according to reports. Police recovered the body, which had “a strong odor of decomposing matter.”
Man suspected of killing girlfriend and keeping her in plastic box “to be close to her”
Daniel Blas Torrealba, 21, and his brother Edwin Humberto Chavez-Blas, 19, were arrested after the decomposed body of Destiny Munoz, 17, was recovered from a plastic container in a vehicle parked at a vacant house, police said Monday.
Police recovered the body, which had “a strong odor of decomposing matter” on Oct.
5 in north Phoenix, where Torrealba lived with his girlfriend and her 1-year-old son.
Police believe Munoz died on Sept. 26, 10 days before his body was recovered.
Both brothers have been charged with concealment of a corpse and tampering with evidence.
They had allegedly planned to dismember Muñoz’s body with a chainsaw and bury it.
Police found a chainsaw, a 9mm pistol, gloves, duct tape and several other items they believe may have been used to conceal the body, according to court documents.
The medical examiner concluded that Muñoz died of a gunshot wound, but Torrealba and his brother gave different explanations. Torrealba claimed he shot himself in the face during an argument and added that he had threatened to take his own life several times in the past.
But Chávez-Blas claimed that Muñoz either hit his head or accidentally shot himself when he fell.
Torrealba continued to text Munoz’s family from his phone after her death to “not worry about her,” according to court documents. He claimed he did not inform police because he did not want to get in trouble for “illegal possession of a firearm.”
He added that he “kept it in a plastic container because he wanted to be near her.”
