Man pleads not guilty to killing, cooking wife

VISTA, Calif. A 68-year-old man pleaded not guilty Wednesday to murdering his wife after police found her severed head in a freezer and her body parts cooking on the stove at their Oceanside home.

Frederick Hengl looked frail as he entered his plea, and his lawyer has requested he receive medical attention, according to U-T San Diego.

Police said they responded to neighbors' complaints about a foul odor coming from the couple's two-bedroom, bungalow-style house Friday morning.

The first officer entered the home through a window and saw three pans of meat cooking on the stove that turned out to be parts of the victim, 73-year-old Anna Faris.

It's believed Faris was killed sometime in November. Authorities have not yet determined how she died.

There were numerous pieces of freshly cut bone found around the home, said Deputy District Attorney Katherine Flaherty. A meat grinder, a saw, a boning knife and other cutting materials were also in the house.

Flaherty said there was no evidence of cannibalism.

Neighbor Erick Chavez told U-T San Diego that the stench from the house grew unbearable after someone placed a fan in one of the home's windows. The odor had lingered for more than a week. Hengl remained jailed on $5 million bail. An effort to leave a phone message for his public defender Wednesday night was unsuccessful.

Back in September, 49-year-old California chef David Viens was convicted of second degree murder in the 2009 death of his wife, Dawn, after prosecutors produced a recording of Viens admitting to slow-cooking her remains to cover up the crime.

[saturn05]

No sign of cannibalism, but body parts were being cooked on the stove. Really, no cannibalism. Oh he was just cooking the flesh away and doing just what with it?

[rwsmith29456]

Maybe he was turning the old nag into glue.

[THGdriver2]

The writer of the story sez---It's believed Faris was killed sometime in November. Authorities have not yet determined how she died.

Huh? She may have died from natural causes. In that case he is not guilty of murder. It also looks like the cops entered without a warrant so the parts found cooking would be inadmissible in court.. I am not an attorney but it looks like the only charge would be abuse of a corpse.

Besides, it's California, they are all Dimwitocrats anyway.

[mendomonk]

Guess I'd better ditch my younger BF, B4 he offs me!

[HistoryNote]

Really, really poor choice of story to run on Thanksgiving. Does everyone with common sense have the day off?

[pedalit]

when would it be proper to run, cronkite?

[x_Warped_Mind_x]

Could have been trying to make the center for a homemade twinkie.. just got to find the right ingredients ya know.

[judymar14]

News articles are getting to be what we read in the tabloids 30 years ago, and then they were shocking and half truths, unlike now. What has this world come to?

[omnibus66]

Poor journalism. First the author says she was "killed", then in the next sentence says the cause of death has not yet been determined. Does anybody edit anything anymore?

[pedalit]

geez neither of ya sound right