A man has been charged with murder after desecrating the body of a young woman who turned down his marriage proposal.
Christopher Tucker, a 34-year-old from Pennsylvania, allegedly murdered 19-year-old Tara Serino after she turned down his marriage proposal, telling him that she was sleeping with other men.
After the rejection, Ms Serino reportedly made an off-hand comment that Mr Tucker should kill her. Mr Tucker allegedly told police at that point that he snapped, and choked Ms Serino until he thought she was dead.
He then allegedly admitted to poking her eyes out, snapping her neck, and finally beating her with a hatchet, police said. He then wrapped her in a rug, and fled the state to Illinois.
Mr Serino was later arrested at a truck stop after he allegedly tried to break into a farmer’s combine. Police there took him to a hospital for evaluation, and proceeded to execute an arrest warrant from the Pennsylvania State Police.
Detectives searched Mr Tucker’s home after his alleged confession and found Ms Serino’s body. He is being held in an Illinois jail, pending extradition back to Pennsylvania.
Mr Tucker lived in Berks County, which is located about halfway between the cities of Philadelphia and the state’s capital, Harrisburg.
The county is mostly rural, with 415, 271 people living there as of the 2010 Census.
