Lady’s Teen Son, Husband Accused of Beating Her to Dying, Burning Physique And Claiming She Left Nation

David Gardiner, 64, and 18-year-old stepson Gabriel Vilchez have been charged with homicide and abuse of a corpse within the demise of Silvia Vilchez, 47. Silvia’s stays had been discovered close to her residence on October 30, two days after she was reported lacking to the Sequatchie County Sheriff’s Workplace.

In keeping with testimony from Detective Ryan Wilkey at a preliminary listening to on Monday, officers who spoke with each suspects mentioned they initially claimed she was on a “church journey” and “going to Costa Rica.”

Wilkey, nevertheless, could not point out who mentioned what, as Gardiner’s lawyer pushed again on his account in an try and distance his consumer from the crime.

Wilkey additionally testified about what authorities allegedly discovered inside the house, after acquiring a search warrant.

“Within the workplace room within the residence, there was reddish-brown stains on the carpet. On all 4 partitions, there was blood spattered. On the desk, on the printer, on the baseboards, all around the partitions,” he mentioned. “In Gabriel’s bed room, Ms. Vilchez’s driver’s license and I feel it was a citizenship card. Her pockets was present in his closet and the keys to his automobile had been present in his closet.”

He mentioned the sufferer’s stays had been then discovered close to the house, in a fireplace pit.

Per Wilkey, Gabriel initially informed authorities “that he had crushed his mom with a ball bat [in the office] and drug her physique out to a fireplace pit and burned it.” After some questioning, in keeping with the detective, he claimed his stepfather was additionally concerned in dragging the physique out of the house and burning it.

In a followup assertion, the teenager’s story modified a bit — with Wilkey claiming he later “acknowledged that he began hitting his mom with a ball bat, Mr. Gardiner got here in, additionally hit his mom with a ball bat.” He mentioned the teenager additionally mentioned, “as soon as they had been performed, they took the physique out to he again porch, rolled it up in a carpet and took it to the fireplace pit and burned it.”

The bat hasn’t been recovered, although Wilkey claimed “an announcement was made that it was thrown into the fireplace.”

Gardiner’s assertion to police, nevertheless, differed significantly from his stepson’s.

“Mr. Gardiner’s assertion that was as soon as Gabriel and Silvia got here again from their church occasion, he went to mattress,” mentioned Wilkey, who claimed Gardiner additionally mentioned he solely heard a automobile door round 3:00-3:30AM. “He received up the subsequent morning, realized the ground was soaking moist [in office]. He acknowledged that Gabriel had used a purple cleaner to scrub the carpet with as a result of it had a roll-up punching bag that leaked rusty water to the ground.”

Claiming he wasn’t concerned and knew nothing about what occurred within the residence, Gardiner additionally allegedly mentioned he was a “heavy sleeper.”

One other detective on the case, Kaylee Smith, additionally testified a few telephone name by Gardiner she allegedly overheard in jail. “He mentioned that he needs to get out and promote every thing he has and get the hell out of right here,” she mentioned, as Assistant District Lawyer Steve Pressure argued for him to face substantial bond.

Stain additionally mentioned it “defies any form of logic that Mr. Gardiner was not conscious of what had occurred” within the residence, whereas Gardiner’s lawyer Michael Dowd mentioned, “To say that is circumstantial is giving it far an excessive amount of credit score … it’s past circumstantial.”

Ultimately, bond was denied for Vilchez, whereas Gardiner’s was set at $250,000. They’re each due again in courtroom on January 30.