Alleged killer, Paul Potter, dismembered man, threw body parts at witnesses, Mo. police say

(CBS/AP) KIRKSVILLE, Mo. - Police arrested a northeast Missouri man on Monday for allegedly killing a man, dismembering the body and hurling the victim's arms at witnesses while setting fires to conceal the crime.

Paul Potter, 49, was charged in Adair County with second-degree murder, arson and tampering with a motor vehicle. He is held on $1 million bond.

Authorities are not releasing the victim's name until relatives have been notified, the Adair County prosecutor's office said.

Police officers responded to a call of a vehicle fire on Sunday and arrived at a public housing development in Kirksville where they saw Potter "throw two objects, later identified as human arms, towards the witnesses," according to a probable cause statement.

Potter was taken into custody "and blood evidence was later collected from his hands," the statement said.

Fires were set in two apartments, which were both strewn with blood. Officers and firefighters found a dismembered body with additional wounds to the face and sternum in one of the apartments.

Potter took "substantial steps to conceal the crime and divert attention away from the crime," the police statement said.

Police said two vehicles were also set on fire, and they found several knives in and around one of the apartments.