Denton man allegedly used a hacksaw to decapitate his own mother

DENTON, Texas - A Denton man who is accused of killing his own mother allegedly cut off her head with a hacksaw.

Isaac Warriner was arrested in Oklahoma on May 6 after police said he led them on a high-speed chase on Interstate 35 across the state line. The 22-year-old was extradited back to Denton this week and is now facing charges for abuse of a corpse and tampering with evidence related to his mother’s death.

According to newly released police documents, Warriner’s neighbors called police the day before his arrest to report strange behavior. They said he “had all types of cleaning supplies, was acting weird and possibly making a bomb.”

Warriner’s neighbors also told police he had been sleeping on an outdoor balcony for the past few days.

The responding officers found a shopping cart full of cleaning supplies outside Warriner’s unlocked apartment. They found 65-year-old Sarah Warriner’s headless body in a bedroom. Her head was not inside the apartment, the probable cause affidavit states.

Investigators believe Warriner used a hacksaw found in the apartment to cut off his mother’s head and then used the bathtub and toilet to clean up the crime scene. They believe Sarah Warriner had been dead for at least two days, the police document states.

Warriner was spotted the next morning in Gainesville driving his mother’s stolen Volvo. He managed to make it across the state line in a high-speed chase but lost control and crashed in Love County, Okla.

The affidavit doesn’t mention whether the rest of Sarah Warriner’s body was ever found but Love County Sheriff Marty Grisham said “unspecified evidence” was found in the car.

“There was evidence found in the car, but I’m not at liberty to give that evidence at this time,” the sheriff said.

Family members said Isaac Warriner suffered a mental breakdown several months ago. Kenneth Warriner said his son had gone to live with his ex-wife after a recent stint in rehab. She was trying to help him.

According to the affidavit, Sarah Warriner had taken her son to the hospital days before her death because he had cut his arms with a razor. While he was at the hospital, Warriner told a nurse he was going to kill himself and his mother.

The nurse called for security but the 22-year-old was gone when officers arrived. His mother later told police who came to the apartment for a welfare check that she found him walking on the road on her way home. She said he took her cellphone away so she couldn’t call anyone after that incident.

Sarah Warriner’s ex-husband and neighbors described her as a sweet woman and said she didn’t deserve to be a victim.

“She would give the shirt off her back to anyone who needed it. I live in the senior community of my apartments and a lot of these elderly can’t get out. She would go to food banks a lot and hand out food to them,” said Mary Nation, her downstairs neighbor.

“She ministered to people for 40-plus years at churches and other institutions of Christian worship. She was greatly loved, as well as a sweet and gentle soul,” Kenneth Warriner added.

Denton Police Chief Frank Dixon said he hasn’t seen a case like this in Denton County in quite some time.

Additional charges could be filed against Warriner depending on the results on an autopsy.