MOUNT VERNON, Wa. (WLWT) –
Warning: Details in this article may be upsetting to readers
When 32-year-old Timothy Hernandez’s parents arrived at their Mount Vernon home after church Sunday afternoon, they found his girlfriend on the ground, with her head removed from her body and placed on the back of her torso, according to Mount Vernon police reports.
Hernandez is now charged with first-degree murder in Skagit County Superior Court, accused of plotting his 27-year-old girlfriend’s death that morning. He would later tell police that he “had spoken with God,” who told him to “strike down” his girlfriend. Their 3-year-old daughter also told investigators she witnessed the slaying.
After the parents called 911, cops arrived to find Vanessa Cons’ body on the floor of the bedroom she shared with Hernandez, at the parents’ house in the 1200 block of North 18th Street in the city about 60 miles north of Seattle.
The parents told officers that they had left for church between 9:30 and 10 a.m. that morning without seeing Hernandez or Cons. They found her body when they returned home about 12:45 p.m. The parents claimed the couple argued before going to bed the previous night.
Investigators found a butcher knife in the kitchen sink with a clean blade, but blood and human hair on the handle. They also spotted multiple stab wounds to Cons’ back and the back of her head. They believe Hernandez sawed her head off from her body and placed it on the back of her torso, according to the incident report.
Police also found bloody clothing in a laundry basket and a chemical examination found bloody footprints around Cons’ body that led to the kitchen sink, documents indicate.
Cops found Hernandez at the Cascade Mall in Burlington with the 3 1/2-year-old daughter he shared with Cons. After officers took him to the Mount Vernon Police Department for questioning, he claimed that God “told him to strike down his girlfriend … because she did not repent,” reports say.
He quoted two Bible verses that addressed women who did not follow God’s word and were “struck down,” Mount Vernon police wrote. He allegedly said he “gave Vanessa a chance to repent, but she did not,” court documents indicate. He also reportedly claimed that “God works in mysterious ways and that he has to believe and not question God’s will.”
Hernandez then took their daughter to the mall. He contended that he was “not crazy” and claimed that “a crazy person would not tell the truth.”
Investigators also spoke with the toddler. She claimed “she saw Daddy cut Mommy with scissors,” according to the police report. She heard her mother scream prior to her death and then her father told her “she needed to go say goodbye to Mommy.” She reportedly said she “did not know why Mommy had her eyes closed and blood on her face.”
Skagit County prosecutors charged Hernandez on Monday.
He is scheduled to be arraigned Sept. 6 in Skagit County Superior Court. He remains jailed on $1 million bail.
Cons’ family has established a GoFundMe page to support funeral expenses. She also has a 5-year-old child, the page says.
