Man Arrested After Authorities Find Him Storing a Human Head in a Bucket

A Maricopa County man has been arrested after authorities found a human head stored in a bucket at a desert campsite west of Phoenix. 

Maricopa County sheriff deputies say they discovered 73-year-old Daniel Lucas's headless torso in a pickup camper parked in a desert campground off Eagle Eye road in Aguila, Arizona. According to court documents, Lucas had been reported missing by friends last July.

Inside the camper, deputies say they discovered human remains in an advanced state of decomposition. They later identified those remains as belonging to Lucas, which investigators say, had been there for some time. 

Investigators then began to question a man camping at a nearby campsite, 52-year-old Matthew David Hall. Hall told deputies that he discovered Lucas inside his camper, and that he had taken part of Lucas's body, which was stored at his campsite. 

Deputies say they were shocked to find a human head stored inside a bucket back at Hall's campsite. 

Questioning Hall again, authorities say the man's story changed somewhat. Hall said he used a rock to break into Lucas's camper, where he discovered the dead man holding a handgun. He told deputies that he took the gun, along with another rifle he discovered in the camper, as well as Lucas's head to store in a container. 

Hall did not reveal to investigators why he took the head.

Court documents indicate that the medical examiner has confirmed that Lucas died by his own hand. 

Hall was arrested for breaking into the camper, disturbing a dead body, and not reporting it to law enforcement. He will be charged with burglary and abandonment/concealment of dead body parts. 

The incident is still under investigation according to a spokesman with the Maricopa County Sheriff's office. 

Photo: Source: Maricopa County Sheriff's Office


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