Photograph composite by The Every day Beast; Hendry County Sheriff’s Workplace; Fb
A Florida man is accused of killing his ex-wife when she stopped by his home to select up a few of her belongings, then incinerating her physique after taking again her marriage ceremony band and engagement ring, in keeping with the feds.
Days later, detectives say they discovered a human jawbone—with a tooth nonetheless connected—in a “burn pile” on his five-acre property.
The grotesque new particulars are revealed in a felony criticism unsealed Tuesday in Tampa federal court docket, charging Ian Christopher Baunach with possession of 13 unregistered firearm silencers. Baunach, 43, what organized Monday on first-degree homicide fees within the dying of Katie Baunach, 39, together with fees together with failure to report a dying to the medical expert and 12 counts of possession of managed substances with no prescription, for a cache of steroids allegedly present in Baunach’s residence .
Baunach stays in custody on the Hendry County Jail, in keeping with reserving data. He doesn’t have a lawyer listed in court docket data, and was unable to be reached for touch upon Tuesday. On social media, Baunach, to avid bodybuilders, claims to be an ex-Marine who attended Jerry Falwell’s Liberty College.
The case in opposition to Baunach will be traced again to the morning of Sept. 30, when a buddy of Katie’s reported her lacking. Earlier within the month, Katie had utilized for, and obtained, a restraining order in opposition to Baunach for allegedly abusing one in every of their two youngsters, the federal criticism says. Final November, Baunach was arrested on fees of home battery by strangulation, and was launched the identical day on $25,000 bond, jail data present. Prosecutors didn’t pursue the case, and the fees have been dropped in January 2022.
Katie left the estranged couple’s children with a buddy at round 9 pm on Sept 29, in keeping with the criticism. She informed the unidentified buddy that Baunach stated she may come over to “retrieve a few of her private gadgets,” and that she’d be again.
“This was the final time Katie Baunach was seen alive,” the criticism states.
The following day, sheriff’s deputies confirmed up at Baunach’s residence to seek for Katie. Officers noticed her automobile parked within the driveway together with her purse inside, in keeping with the criticism. However Baunach wasn’t residence, and the cops left.
They stopped by once more a short while later, and seen that Katie’s automobile had been moved and was now parked on the road. Baunach was now at residence, however the driveway gate was locked and an agitated Baunach would not let the deputies in, in keeping with the sheriff’s workplace. So that they utilized for a warrant and entered Baunach’s residence at round 1 pm, the criticism states.
Six of the 13 silencers investigators say they present in Ian Baunach’s residence.
US District Court docket for the Center District of Florida
Six of the 13 silencers investigators say they present in Ian Baunach’s residence.
US District Court docket for the Center District of Florida
As soon as inside, cops noticed what they believed was proof of a murder, in keeping with the criticism.
Detectives searched Baunach’s automobile, which was parked within the connected storage, and sprayed the trunk with luminol, which the criticism describes as “a chemical that reacts to the presence of blood by glowing blue.”
“The inside of Baunach’s automobile trunk glowed blue after legislation enforcement utilized the luminol,” in keeping with the criticism.
A hallway connecting the storage with the home’s lobby confirmed “indicators of a bodily battle,” the criticism continues. One of many partitions gave the impression to be broken, and officers noticed uncovered screws the place a damaged mirror had as soon as been mounted.
“Legislation enforcement handled the realm with luminol which once more glowed blue displaying the presence of blood within the beforehand described hallway,” the criticism goes on. “The luminol additionally reacted and on the wall adjoining to the workplace door and on the workplace door body. Legislation enforcement found a big floor space on three completely different partitions of the Premises which glowed blue when handled with luminol.”
In an adjoining residence workplace, cops discovered a secure “which contained Katie Baunach’s marriage ceremony band and engagement ring,” which the feds say she had been carrying when she left her buddy’s home the night earlier than. Officers additionally discovered an AR-15 higher receiver and 13 silencers within the secure, together with a Glock Mannequin 27 .40 caliber pistol inside a plastic bag on a bookshelf, in keeping with the criticism. There have been three rifles and a shotgun in an attic above the storage, and Baunach had one other .40 caliber Glock on his particular person, it says.
Throughout a wider search of the property, cops “found the fragment of a human mandible with an intact tooth in a recent burn pile, and found a blue fifty-gallon barrel close to the burn pile which reeked of decaying flesh,” the criticism states. “Contained in the blue fifty-gallon barrel, legislation enforcement found a further human bone fragment. Legislation enforcement found different suspected human bone fragments within the space surrounding the burn pile.”
Nonetheless, Baunach denied all the things when confronted by police.
He informed detectives that Katie had contacted him a few nights earlier, saying she wanted fuel for her automobile. When she arrived, the 2 received into an argument “over one other girl,” the criticism states. Baunach claimed he “didn’t wish to argue,” and went to sleep. When he wakened, Katie was gone, Baunach insisted, saying that he then moved her automobile to the road.
Investigators informed Baunach they found blood contained in the trunk of his automobile, which he blamed on “groceries he had transported,” in keeping with the criticism.
“When requested concerning the blood discovered contained in the Premises, Baunach said that he didn’t imagine the officers,” it says, including that Baunach blamed the damaged mirror on having “ran into it whereas strolling down the corridor.” Baunach additionally stated Katie was not “really a lacking particular person,” and informed cops they “didn’t have a physique.”
Baunach owned as much as possessing the silencers present in his residence, however “disputed they have been really silencers,” in keeping with the criticism.
As for any ailing will in the direction of his ex, the criticism says Baunach “admitted to being offended that Katie Baunach filed for and obtained a home violence injunction in opposition to him.”
Every federal depend with which Baunach is charged carries a most penalty of 10 years in jail. If convicted on the state cost of first-degree homicide, Baunach faces life in jail or the dying penalty.
