Texas man cuts off mother's head with hacksaw, police say

A Texas man cut off his mother’s head with a hacksaw before fleeing police, authorities have said.

Isaac Israel Warriner has been charged with the abuse of a corpse after officers found Sarah Warriner’s decapitated body at their apartment in the city of Denton.

The 22-year-old – who is said to have previously suffered a mental breakdown – has not been charged with killing her although authorities have not ruled out that such charges may follow.

The incident came to light after Denton Police Department was called to an apartment complex by a neighbour who said Mr Warriner had been “acting weird” and carrying around cleaning supplies, an affidavit states.

When officers arrived they found 65-year-old Ms Warriner's corpse and the hacksaw inside the flat. Her head was not there and it is not clear whether it has been located.

Authorities believe Ms Warriner had been dead for two days when officers arrived on 5 May

Mr Warriner, himself, was not in the flat but was spotted in his mother’s car the next day, and led police on a chase into Oklahoma, where he was finally arrested.

His father Kenneth Warriner, who is divorced from Ms Warriner, told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram newspaper that his son suffered a mental breakdown a few months ago.

He said: “She had allowed him to stay with her after his last rehabilitation stay.

"He was prescribed psychotic drugs to try and help, but that didn’t seem to work.”