Police say a history of domestic violence may have contributed to the murder of an Urbana man found dead inside his home.
Christopher Myers is charged with killing his 65-year-old father, but the motive remains a mystery.
Police say his wife found Jerald Myers dead in the upstairs of their home and called 911.
Dispatcher: What's going on?
Wife: My husband’s dead. Jerald Myers.
Dispatcher: What makes you think he's dead?
Wife: I know he's dead. I'm a nurse. He's dead.
Dispatcher: Has he been injured?
Wife: You'll have to come and investigate. I don't know what happened, I wasn't here.
Police say her son, 38-year old Christopher Myers, was home alone with his dad at the time of the murder. Detectives removed weapons from the crime scene, but won’t say what the murder weapon was. However they do tell 10TV there were multiple signs of trauma and there was a struggle.
When Christopher’s younger brother Brian arrived on the scene, police say that’s when things escalated.
“I think it was Brian demanding from Chris, ‘you were at the house, why is dad not with us?’” says Chief Matt Lingrell of the Urbana Division of Police.
According to court papers, after Myers’ body was found inside this house, the two brothers got into a verbal altercation outside. That’s when police say Christopher pulled out an axe.
The report says Chris "chased Brian off the back porch" while "swinging an axe yelling, ‘you want something too?’”
Police say Christopher Myers is no stranger to police. Court records show in 1995, 1998 and 2008 he was convicted of domestic violence.
Chief Lingrell says the Myers family also has a history of family trouble. “They are very well known to us. They've had challenges with police and the courts through most of their lives.”
Police say prior to the murder, they had responded to the home only once before this year for a report of domestic violence.
It is the third homicide in Urbana since 2011. The chief say before that, they city hadn't had a murder in 27 years.
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