Man Charged With Capital Murder After His Mom's Body Found in Freezer

An Arkansas man has been charged with capital murder after police found the remains of his mother in a freezer at their shared home following family members' requests for a welfare check.

Raymond Martin Jr., 49, of Conway, Arkansas, allegedly used his 68-year-old mother Nancy Glover-Warren's cell phone and social media accounts to keep up a rouse that she had spontaneously decided to retire to Hawaii all while her body was inside a large stand-up freezer in the garage, according to court documents. During the months she was missing, Martin. Jr. allegedly withdrew a "significant amount of money" from his mother's bank accounts and tried to forge a roughly $6,000 check in her name, police said.

Martin Jr. has been jailed at the Faulkner County Detention Center after being arrested and charged in the death of Glover-Warren, whose body was discovered on Thursday at the home she shared with the suspect and an adult son who is disabled, Conway Police Department (CPD) said on Friday in a news release. Martin Jr. confessed to police following the discovery of his mother's remains, according to court documents.

In addition to capital murder, Martin Jr. faces charges of abuse of a corpse, forgery, fraudulent use of a credit or debit card and theft of property, CPD said in the statement, which was shared on the department's Facebook page. He confessed to strangling her mother after an argument in April, according to police.

Newsweek reached out via email and Facebook to the CPD for comment.

After only receiving text messages from Glover-Warren since mid-April, concerned family members requested that CPD conduct a wellness check last month. On Glover-Warren's birthday, June 24, after attempts to call and facetime her were unsuccessful, the family contacted the department, CPD Sargent Brittani Little said in the affidavit. She said that no one answered the door during the wellness check.

The family said while the limited contact was "unlike her," they said they received a series of texts from Glover-Warren's phone after CPD officers visited the house. The messages provided an explanation and said that she wanted to "enjoy" her retirement after spending her life caring for family members. In subsequent texts, she also said she was dating someone in Hawaii and was "very happy and carefree there," Little said in the court document.

"This seemed odd to the family since this news came to them with no warning," Little said. "They also found it odd that Nancy would leave her 48-year-old son who requires continual support due to his cognitive abilities and significant needs. Nancy is 68 years old and has been her son's caretaker all his life."

Following the June visit, officers continued the probe into Glover-Warren's whereabouts, questioning neighbors and family, including Martin Jr. who told CPD that his mother would facetime him weekly and call often.

"He further explained that she went to Hawaii for her mental health and that her doctor suggested it," Little said in the affidavit. "When asked if officers could speak with her over the phone, he stated that we would not be able to until January."

On Wednesday, investigators were contacted by a friend of Glover-Warren's who said when they asked her for a picture of the beach she said she was at, they received an image that turned out to be doctored photo from a news article, Little said.

"Due to the inconsistent stories, lack of logical reasoning for the sudden move, photoshopped images coming from Nancy's phone and continued concern for her wellbeing a search warrant was drafted for Nancy's cell phone location," she said, adding that the location obtained was Glover-Warren's Zachary Trail home that she shared with her sons.

Family members told investigators that Glover-Warren and Martin Jr. did not get along, suggesting that the relationship was so strained that Glover-Warren previously said that she was worried that her son might hurt her.

"They also stated that Nancy had mentioned fearing Raymond and made mention that if anything ever happened to her that he would be the one to do it," Little said. "Family detailed rather hostile conversations they heard between Nancy and Raymond while conversing with Nancy over the phone."

After investigators served a search warrant at the home and discovered Glover-Warren's body on July 6, Little said they confronted Martin Jr. who "ultimately admitted to causing Nancy's death" after the two got into a violent altercation on April 19.

Martin Jr. provided graphic details to CPD about the murder in his alleged confession, saying that he held a "tight grip" on her throat until she died, the court document shows.

"At this time Raymond retrieved a bag from the kitchen to put over Nancy's head because he stated he was unable to look at her because she had a single tear running down her cheek," Little said in the affidavit.