A Florida man has been charged with the murder of his father after police discovered the father’s lifeless body in the freezer of his Lee County home.
Jake Hemmert shot and killed father Brian Hemmert, 60, in his bed and tried to pass it off as a suicide, police said.
After killing his dad, Jake cleaned the bloody mattress, covered it with trash bags and put in the attack — before spending more than $30,000 on his dad’s credit cards, per NBC2.
The outlet added:
“He claimed that his dad was in a crash in June, but he was fine. Jake later admitted that Brian made it up so he did not have to talk to his father, Paul Hemmert.
“The police report states that Jake claimed had spoken to his dad since he had gone missing. The sheriff’s office says this could not be proven on cell phone logs.”
When first questioned, Jake said he had dropped off his father at the airport so he could travel to Utah. Later, Jake changed his story, saying Brian left the country to fight human trafficking.
But investigators eventually discovered a freezer at Brian’s home, that was covered as if someone were trying to hide it.
The freezer, which had been duct-taped shut, had Jake’s fingerprints on it, police said.
Per NBC2:
“Detectives launched an investigation on August 28 after his father Paul Hemmert reported him missing. Jake was arrested that day for an unrelated warrant out of Arizona.
“Deputies found Brian’s body on September 7 but they have not said yet how he died.
“Paul said that he spoke with his son every week. They never missed a phone call, until all of a sudden, it stopped.”.