A man drove to a Northern California police station on Monday afternoon with a dead body in his car and said he’d killed four of his relatives, including the person in the vehicle, police said.
The suspect spoke to officers in the city of Mount Shasta, located near the California-Oregon border, at around noon. He said he’d left the other bodies in his apartment in Roseville, California, more than 200 miles away.
Mount Shasta police contacted authorities in Roseville, who confirmed at a press conference on Monday night that three bodies had indeed been found in the man’s apartment. The identities of the victims and their relationship to the suspect have not been made public.
Sgt. Robert Gibson of the Mount Shasta Police Department told The New York Times that the suspect was very calm and “matter of fact” when he spoke to them. He was so composed that officers initially didn’t believe he was telling the truth, Gibson said ― until he handed over the keys to the car he said he’d driven to the station with the body inside.
“He just came in and told our dispatcher that I want to confess to a murder, and then just gave it up,” Gibson said. “I have never had someone come in with a body and turn themselves in here. This was unusual for us.”
Mount Shasta and Roseville police said they are conducting a joint investigation into the killings. The suspect has been detained but has yet to be formally charged, the Times said.