Elderly man, 78, arrested for murder after wife’s dismembered body found stuffed in three suitcases floating in Delray Beach

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A Delray Beach man accused of dismembering his wife with a chainsaw and stuffing her body in three suitcases that were later found floating in the Intracoastal Waterway was caught climbing in a window of his home as police executed a search warrant.

William Lowe, 78, was arrested Wednesday on charges of first-degree murder and abusing a dead body in the killing of his 80-year-old wife, Aydil Barbosa Fontes, Delray Beach police announced at a press conference.

Mr Lowe had been questioned in his wife’s case last week but returned home as they were searching the property. He told police he just needed his phone and key to a storage shed, which led to finding a Ryobi chainsaw that appeared to be covered in blood, bone matter, and human hair, according to a police report.

Investigators have been trying for weeks to identify the remains that were first discovered in a suitcase on 21 July in the water along the Intracoastal Waterway off Delray Beach, Florida.

A reconstructed image of what the woman may have looked like before she was killed was released last week, along with pictures of two of the suitcases that her body had been stuffed in.

Investigators believe the suitcases were placed in the water sometime between 17 July and 20 July. They used dental records to identify the remains as Fontes.

A motive is not yet known, lead Detective Mike Liberta said at the presser, adding that the “heinous crime” was “probably the worst I’ve seen.”

Police found the first suitcase with human remains hanging out of it when responding to a 911 call about a suspicious object in the waterway. It had been weighed down with landscaping rocks and had an airport barcode sticker for LATAM Airlines with the name "Barbosa."

Two more suitcases were found a short time later nearby which also contained human remains.

Police also found a tote bag that had its handles tied shut with twine and wrapped with a man’s belt. The woman’s head with a gunshot wound was inside.

Witnesses told police they had noticed a man looking out at the floating suitcases on 20 July. When one of the witnesses asked the man what he was doing, he said that he was “waiting for the big boat to come into the harbour.”

The witnesses added that the man “appeared nervous" and immediately walked over to his car and drove away. The car was an older model gold sedan.

More than one witness told police they had seen a man using a dock ladder to get into the water. And surveillance video also captured a man climbing on the dock ladder twice on 20 July, according to the report.

The report revealed that blood was later found on the dock near where the suitcases were found.

The witnesses who saw the man getting into his car, described the vehicle as a gold sedan or a Ford. Investigators later located the gold Ford Taurus nearby and ran the plates leading them to the Lowes’ home.

Police questioned Mr Lowe at the police department on 31 July and he claimed that Fontes was in Brazil where her family lives and that she had been there about three weeks, the report said.

But he could not provide details about which airline she flew or when he last spoke to her.

During a search of the couple’s home, police found blood splatter and drag marks throughout the living room, dining room, hallway, both bathrooms and the master bedroom, according to the report. They also found cleaning supplies containing blood splatter.

Mr Lowe was taken into custody on Wednesday and held without bond.