The husband of a Connecticut woman whose body was found in East Hartford said they had been arguing for days before their fight turned physical and she died during the altercation, police said Monday.
Tahj Hutchinson, 22, was arrested and booked on a manslaughter charge after police discovered the remains of Jessica Edwards, 30, in a wooded area near the Hockanum River on Friday.
Hutchinson appeared in court on Monday and was ordered held in jail in lieu of a $1.5 million bond.
The suspect told police he and his wife began arguing on May 8 over guinea pigs that he got her as a gift, according a South Windsor police arrest affidavit that was made public on Monday.
That disagreement carried into May 9 before he reached a "breaking point" on May 10 and they got into a physical confrontation, the court document said.
Hutchinson said Edwards hit him in the head with a laptop and she grabbed a kitchen knife before they wrestled over the blade. He eventually pinned her to the ground, kneeling on her back and neck, the court documents stated.
At one point, Edwards stopped struggling before Hutchinson got up to care for their 7-month-old son and returned to his wife who still wasn't moving, he allegedly told police. He then realized that she was no longer alive, the affidavit said.
"He left her on the floor for the day and tended to his son throughout the day and evening, while her family was calling him looking to locate her," according to police. "He stated that later that night he backed his Jeep up to his door, loaded her body in the rear of it and left when the family came over."
Edwards' sister told police she had arrived at their South Windsor home that night and allegedly spotted the suspect quickly closing the rear hatch of his Jeep.
"She stated she looked in the rear and it appeared the blanket may be covering something up," according to the police.
Hutchinson drove away and eventually came to the East Hartford Police Department to report his wife missing. But investigators believe there "was approximately a 28-minute gap" in his journey from home to the police department, according to the affidavit.
Cell phone data from the suspect's phone eventually led police to search an area off Driver Road in East Hartford, where they found Edwards' body in a wooded area.
It wasn't immediately clear late Monday afternoon if Hutchinson had retained a lawyer for the next court appearance.
