Inset: Christopher Ebanks (Maricopa County Sheriff's Office). Background: The Arizona apartment building where Christopher Ebanks allegedly killed his pal and then forced the victim's girlfriend to help him hide the body and evidence (KSAZ/YouTube).
An Arizona woman was forced to help wrap her headless boyfriend in "carpeting and an air mattress" before propping his dismembered body up in a closet after his pal killed him with a hatchet, cops say.
Christopher Ebanks, 32, is charged with murder and kidnapping in connection with the brutal May 7 slaying in Phoenix. A probable cause affidavit for his arrest, which was obtained by Law&Crime, says Ebanks ordered the victim's girlfriend to help hide his body and evidence of the killing after she watched Ebanks stab him repeatedly with a "triangular ax-like blade" at the couple's apartment, per cops.
"The suspect [Ebanks] directed her to assist with cleaning the apartment and concealing the body," the affidavit alleges. "The victim had initially been placed in the bathtub before later being wrapped up and moved into a closet."
Phoenix Police say Ebanks was called by the boyfriend to come over and help him obtain rent money after he and the girlfriend began fighting over making payments. The couple allegedly met up with Ebanks and kept "arguing over rent money" when a physical altercation occurred between them in front of Ebanks.
Upset with seeing the boyfriend getting physical, Ebanks challenged him "to fight an actual man," according to the affidavit. As things escalated, the girlfriend said she saw Ebanks pull out the hatchet and stab her boyfriend "repeatedly."
After doing this, Ebanks told the woman that they "needed to clean this up," according to the affidavit. The two of them allegedly used cleaning products, knives, towels, an extension cord, carpeting, and the air mattress to hide the boyfriend's body and evidence.
"The victim was wrapped in carpeting and an air mattress and bound with a white extension cord and additional items," the affidavit says. "The victim appeared to be dismembered (missing head and hands)."
Ebanks allegedly stuffed the missing head and hands into a suitcase and left the apartment. He ordered the girlfriend to get into his car with him and go to his apartment, where she was "forced to shower at knife/gunpoint in an attempt to destroy evidence," according to the affidavit.
Police say the girlfriend told her father about what happened and he notified authorities. This led to cops searching Ebanks' apartment, where they allegedly found the suitcase with the boyfriend's remains.
Ebanks was arrested and charged with one count of first-degree murder and one count of kidnapping. He has refused to speak to police and is being held on a $1 million bond.
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