Wisconsin man suspected of killing grandmother says he did it to save her soul

ROCK COUNTY, Wis. (TCD) --

A 37-year-old man was taken into custody on June 23 on suspicion of killing his 97-year-old grandmother, which he reportedly said he did in order to save her soul.

The Rock County Sheriff's Office released a statement that same day announcing Jamie Beggs' arrest and his first-degree murder charges. Beggs was reportedly taken into custody on an unrelated charge the day the victim Kathleen Beggs was found.

The Sheriff's Office wrote in an earlier statement that on June 14 at approximately 5:30 a.m., deputies performed a welfare check on an individual residing on the 11000 block of West Mineral Point Road. Deputies reportedly found a deceased elderly woman in the garage. The person who called 911 reportedly said there was another person in the house and they did not know about the call.

That resident, later identified as Jamie Beggs, was taken into custody as a person of interest in the case. Rock County Sheriff Troy Knudson called the crime a "complex violent death investigation" in his first statement.

Beggs was booked into the Rock County Jail and was being held on $100,000 bond.

WISC-TV, citing the criminal complaint, reports Jamie Beggs was living with his grandmother Kathleen at the time of her death. The person who stopped by the home and called the police regarding the welfare check was Kathleen's son, according to WISC.

Jamie reportedly told investigators he asked Kathleen's son if he could "see the demons," then revealed her body was in the garage.

WKOW-TV reports Kathleen Beggs was found with a plastic bag around her head and a pool of blood around her. Her cause of death was reportedly determined to be strangulation and sharp force injury to the neck, according to WKOW.

WKOW also cites the criminal complaint, which says Jamie Beggs reportedly called himself a "martyr" for killing her.

He reportedly told police, "She's a saint, man. She's a f---ing saint. She's a saint now. She got her f---ing sainthood, man. I saved her f---ing soul."

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