We have a horrifying story to report out of Tennessee, and we’d like to caution you in advance that this article contains grisly details of an especially heinous crime.
Two men — Gabriel Vilchez, 18, and David Gardiner, 64 — have been arrested in connection with the death of Silvia Vilchez, 47.
The victim’s body was found near her home on October 30, two days after she was reported missing.
Police say Gabriel confessed to beating his mother to death with a baseball bat and disposing of her remains.
Vilchez says Gardniner, his stepfather, was an accomplice in the murder.
Gardiner, however, claims that he slept through the attack and had no knowledge of the murder until his wife’s body was found.
At a hearing held earlier this week, Detective Ryan Wilkey stated that one of the men indicated Silvia was on a “church trip” and “going to Costa Rica.”
Gardiner’s attorney asked the judge to prevent Wilkey from revealing which of the men made that claim.
At a different point in the hearing, Gardiner described the evidence he discovered inside Gardiner and the Vilchezes’ home.
“In the office room in the residence, there were reddish-brown stains on the carpet. On all four walls, there was blood spattered. On the desk, on the printer, on the baseboards, all over the walls,” he said.
“In Gabriel’s bedroom, Ms. Vilchez’s driver’s license and I think it was a citizenship card. Her wallet was found in his closet and the keys to his vehicle were found in his closet.”
Wilkey claimed that Gabriel told police “that he had beaten his mother with a ball bat [in the office] and drug her body out to a fire pit and burned it.”
According to the detective, Gabriel later “stated that he started hitting his mother with a ball bat, Mr. Gardiner came in, also hit his mother with a ball bat.”
“Once they were done, they took the body out to he back porch, rolled it up in a carpet and took it to the fire pit and burned it,” Wilkey said, adding the teen later made “a statement that [the body] was thrown into the fire.”
Gardiner offered an account that varied significantly from his stepson’s.
“Mr. Gardiner’s statement that was once Gabriel and Silvia came back from their church event, he went to bed,” said Wilkey.
Gardiner allegedly claimed that he was awakened by a car door around 3:00 AM.
“He got up the next morning, realized the floor was soaking wet [in his home office],” Wilkey said.
“He stated that Gabriel had used a red cleaner to clean the carpet with because it had a roll-up punching bag that leaked rusty water to the floor.”
Bond was denied for Vilchez, while Gardiner’s was set at $250,000. It’s unclear if Gardiner was able to post bail.
Both men are due back in court on January 30.
We will have further updates on this developing story as new information becomes available.