Bryce Winnecke ordered to high-security state facility after 'aggressive behavior' in jail

JEFFERSONVILLE, Ind. (WDRB) -- The man charged with beheading his father in Jeffersonville will be moved to the Indiana Department of Correction after the state escalated concerns over his mental and physical health.

In new motions filed Thursday, Clark County prosecutor Jeremy Mull said 33-year-old Bryce Winnecke has "demonstrated violent or aggressive behavior" in jail, prompting a medical response and raising alarms about safety for staff and other inmates.

"The defendant has slammed his head into the wall or floor of the jail cell on multiple occasions, resulting in the need for medical care," Mull wrote in the motion.

In court Thursday, Winnecke's forehead was obviously bruised and scarred. Judge Nick Karaffa granted a motion to transfer Winnecke to a high-security facility.

"... over the last 24 hours he has been in a restraining chair the whole time to stop self-harm," Col. Mark Grube, with the Clark County Sheriff's Office, said Thursday.

A psychiatric evaluation was ordered for him, and two doctors are tasked with determining whether he's competent to stand trial and whether he was legally insane at the time of the crime. Larry Wilder, Winnecke's attorney, said the jail isn't equipped to keep Winnecke safe.

"Bryce is not acting out violently against staff," Wilde r said. "This is him trying to hurt himself."

Winnecke was arrested Aug. 15 after a four-hour standoff outside a home in the 3000 block of Callaway Drive, which is off Charlestown Pike.

According to court documents, he told his mother, Ann Winnecke, in a phone conversation he cut his dad's head off because he was the "evilest person that ever lived."

Ann Winnecke called police when she hadn't heard from Erich Winnecke, her ex-husband, and said she suspected her son might have hurt him. She said she remained friendly with her ex-husband and spoke to him regularly, and it was unusual to not hear from him for several days.

Police eventually found Erich Winnecke's headless body in the main bedroom of his father's home on Summerlin Drive, police said, along with a knife that was 12-14 inches long. According to the probable cause affidavit, Erich Winnecke had stab wounds to his abdomen and chest, and all four walls and the ceiling had "mass evidence" of blood splatter.

"The victim's head and brain was not located within the confines of the residence or property," police said in the documents.

Police said Erich Winnecke's head was found in a plastic trash bag in Bryce Winnecke's bedroom on Callaway Drive.

"The head was compared to a known government issued ID of Erich V. Winnecke and identified as being the head removed from the body of the victim ...," police said.

Prosecutors now believe Winnecke killed his father and then came back a day or two later to cut off his head.

"I would say within 24-48 hours, that time frame, when he returned and and removed the severed head," Mull said Thursday.

During Tuesday's initial court appearance, Mull said he's seeking a sentence of life without parole, if Winnecke is convicted. Judge Nicholas Karaffa entered not guilty pleas on Winnecke's behalf and ordered him to remain jailed without bond.