Investigators may be one step closer to determining a motive behind a horrific crime in Oklahoma City.
Shortly before 12 p.m. on Sept. 16, a woman called 911 to say that she was concerned that something had happened to her father.
As a result of the concern, officers decided to perform a welfare check at a home in the 1900 block of S.W. 10th St.
When police arrived at the scene, they ultimately found the body of 71-year-old Esteban Tapia inside a metal toolbox behind the home.
A man’s body was found inside a large toolbox at an Oklahoma City residence.
Investigators say Tapia’s body showed injuries consistent with homicide.
When police arrived at the scene, they reportedly found 31-year-old Francisco Tapia-Ortiz covered in blood.
Investigators learned that Francisco had been arguing with his father after the 71-year-old filed a victim protection order against him that morning.
Court documents show that Francisco admitted to confronting his father about the VPO before he “hit him several times all over his body with a tube.”
Once Esteban Tapia was dead, police allege that Francisco put his body inside a toolbox.
Francisco Tapia was arrested on a complaint of first-degree murder.