Unhinged Man Decapitated Grandmother, Burned Body Before Prancing Naked Around Day Care

An unhinged Ocala, Florida man has been apprehended by police after he allegedly murdered and decapitated his vulnerable grandmother, leaving behind an appalling crime scene in their home on March 26.

The suspect, Nicholas James Trench, 31, has been slapped with charges of second-degree murder, first-degree arson as well as abuse of a dead body in the murder of his grandmother, Alice Trench, 77, according to the Marion County Sheriff’s Office.

Responding officers were deployed at a home in the 10600 block of SW 75th Terrace on March 26 for a well-being check to find the home was on fire. When police entered the residence, they were welcomed by the dreadful find of a woman's charred headless corpse.

Deputies claimed that they could not immediately identify the victim following its discovery due to the heinous nature of her murder.

Investigators suspect that the victim's 31-year-old grandson, who was reportedly high on drugs, had mercilessly choked the 77-year-old before beheading her and slicing her left arm off, WGFL noted.

Police further alleged that the Trench suspect ultimately proceeded to start a fire to conceal the bloody crime scene. He was the only person accompanying the victim at the time of her horrendous murder.

The Medical Examiner’s Office confirmed the cause of her death was from strangulation and suffocation with contributory factors of blunt force trauma.

Security footage at the home dated March 26 bared that the man was in possession of a handsaw, suspected to be the weapon used in the killing. He was also seen disposing of a waste bag stashed with blood-soaked clothing and would later ignite a fire in the home after securing accelerants from a container, according to ClickOrlando.

More than a month later, the Marion County Sheriff's Office confirmed the younger Trench's arrest on May 6. He was spotted by police while he was maniacally prancing naked at a local daycare center, some 1,600 feet away from the original crime scene.

Daycare employees reported that they had to conduct stricter safety measures for the children after the man smashed a fence to invade the property.

Following his arrest, the suspect allegedly told law enforcement that he could not recall killing the elderly Trench.

The offender, who has been held in Marion County Jail without bond, then phoned his mother from jail to confess that he was high the night his grandmother was murdered. He had reportedly been deprived of sleep days leading to the killing, True Crime Daily reported.

Trench has been known to police after he was previously charged with indecent exposure, criminal mischief, resisting arrest, providing false identification documents to law enforcement, and violation of probation.

In 2020, he was hit with a domestic battery by strangulation charge, court records reveal.