Quantcast
Oregon man charged with decapitating mom on Mother’s Day – Metro US

Oregon man charged with decapitating mom on Mother’s Day

Oregon man charged with decapitating mom on Mother's Day

A blood-covered man carrying the severed head of his mother and a knife, walked into an Oregon grocery store on Mother’s Day and stabbed a clerk before being subdued, local law enforcement officials said.

Joshua Lee Webb, 36, faces charges of murder in the death of his mother, Tina Marie Webb, 59, on the same day as her autopsy. He also faces attempted murder for the attack on the clerk, Michael Wagner, who was recovering from his wounds in a hospital, according to the Clackamas County Sheriff’s Department.

“I never foresaw a problem. If I had I would have stopped it,” David Webb told The Associated Press before bursting into loud sobs during a phone interview. “I just can’t believe I lost my wife and son in one day. … I don’t know. I wish I did. I wish I had some answers, but I don’t. I waited all my life to retire with my wife, and now I can’t. That’s all I know.”

Webb is being held in the Clackamas County Jail, the Sheriff’s Department said in a statement on Monday.

Customers fled the Estacada Harvest Market Thriftway in Estacada, Oregon on Sunday morning and called police after Webb entered carrying the head, according to local press reports.

After Wagner, 66, was stabbed, he and other store employees subdued Webb and held him until police arrived, the Sheriff’s Department said. At about the same time, police said they also responded to a call at the Webb home in Colton, about 12 miles away, where they found Webb’s mother dead. Webb lived with his parents, they said.

Webb’s father said his son has vision problems and receives Social Security benefits, the AP reported. Webb’s mom thought he had depression, but his father told the AP he didn’t see any signs. He said he and his wife just bought their son a dog because he wanted one.

“It was traumatic, but it happened so fast that nobody really saw what was going on,” Marvin Flora, a nearby diner owner, told the AP. “One lady came in this morning and said she actually saw somebody come in with something that was bloody and was carrying something with his arm.”

Police did not provide any details on what led to Tina Marie Webb’s murder. It was not immediately possible to contact Webb or identify an attorney representing him.