Cops: Man Decapitated Mom on Mother's Day

Oregon man brought head to store, police say
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted May 16, 2017 4:49 AM CDT
Cops; Man Decapitated Mom on Mother's Day
Messages and candles for an injured employee are shown outside a grocery store in Estacada, Ore., on Monday.   (Gillian Flaccus)

An Oregon man is accused of decapitating his mother on Mother's Day and bringing her head to a grocery store. The Clackamas County Sheriff's Office says Joshua Lee Webb, 36, killed his mother at their rural home Sunday. He then allegedly showed up at a grocery store in nearby Estacada carrying a human head and began stabbing a checkout clerk before being subdued, the AP reports. "He didn't say anything after he was subdued," says Ernie Roberts, interim police chief in nearby Sandy, Ore. "He was in like a catatonic state, wasn't speaking to anybody." The grocery store checkout clerk was hospitalized and was expected to survive.

Authorities say Webb was covered in blood and was carrying a severed head and a large knife when he entered the Thriftway store. David Webb told the AP that his son had vision problems and received Social Security payments. He said he doesn't understand what happened. "I never foresaw a problem. If I had I would have stopped it," he said, sobbing. "I just can't believe I lost my wife and son in one day. ... 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." The son has been charged with murder and attempted murder. (More Oregon stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X