The headless body of a Henderson man was found by his mother, a police report says, and the man’s girlfriend – who is also married to the victim’s son – is charged with his murder.
Devyn Michaels, 45, a suspect in the murder, also told police that the victim, Johnathan James Willette, 46, was abusing her and a child, and that she hit him over the head after he tried to force her to to have sex, according to the arrest report.
It was not clear from the report whether Michaels’s abuse allegations were considered credible.
Willette’s body was found in a bed at a home in the 2000 block of Pala Dura Drive around 8:40 a.m. on Aug. 7, according to the Henderson Police Department.
His mother found his body “wrapped in blankets and bloody.” She called 911. It was not clear if she saw that the body had been decapitated.
“Johnathan’s head had been severed from his body and was not observed to be in the room,” the arrest report said.
Police have not said whether the head has been found.
The man’s cause of death was still pending, the Clark County Coroner’s Office said.
Michaels was arrested Tuesday and faces an open murder charge, Henderson police announced in a statement Wednesday.
Police described Michaels as the victim’s girlfriend in the statement, but in the arrest report, Willette’s mother said Michaels was Willette’s ex-girlfriend and that they were trying to get back together.
Michaels is married to Willette’s son, Michaels told police. But Michaels and Willette have two daughters.
The suspect told police that she and Willette’s son got married a couple of years ago “to help each other out.”
The report reported that the son “reported that their marriage is not a typical marriage and that they got married in order to help Devyn with his medical problems.”
In a lie detector interview with Henderson investigators at Las Vegas police headquarters, Michaels alleged that Willette “abused her.” Michaels also alleged that Willette had a child “bathe in front of him.”
Michaels told police he was rubbing Willette’s back while they were both in bed and hit Willette over the head with a wooden cane, according to the arrest report.
His arms went limp, according to the report.
Michaels told police that before hitting him, Willette had “attempted to get her to perform a sexual act on him.”
“Devyn stated that he did not want to kill Johnathan and just wanted to hurt him enough that he had to go to the hospital because he wanted him out of the way so he could find out what he could do with his children,” the report said.
Michaels said she then covered Willette with a blanket and spoke to her mother briefly before the mother went back upstairs. Michaels said that he then left the house.
The mother told police she saw Michaels around 1 a.m. Surveillance footage showed Michaels’ car leaving the house at 2:04 a.m., according to police.
Asked if he could explain what happened between the time he spoke to Willette’s mother, at 1 a.m., and the time he left, just after 2 a.m., Michaels “couldn’t explain that lapse of time.” , According to the report.
Following that police interview, Michaels was arrested.
On August 8, the mother told police that when she was cleaning, she noticed a butcher knife was missing from the kitchen.
