An Arizona man is accused of fatally striking his victim multiple times in the head with a hatchet, authorities said.
Nicholas Paul Umphress, 33, of Mohave Valley was arrested Thursday on a first-degree murder charge in connection with the death of 33-year-old Victor Hernandez, the Mohave County Sheriff's Office wrote on its Facebook page.
According to the Sheriff's Office, deputies received a telephone call about 9:11 p.m. Thursday at a home near the Arizona-California border, the Las Vegas Journal-Review reported.
When deputies arrived, Umphress approached them and was detained, the Sheriff's Office said. When deputies entered the residence, they said they discovered Hernandez dead from "obvious trauma" to his head. There was water flooded around his body, deputies said.
An investigation revealed Umphress struck Hernandez “multiple times” with the hatchet and then tried to clean the scene before investigators arrived, the Sheriff’s Office said.
Umphress remains in the Mohave County Jail in Kingman, Arizona, without bail, according to online jail records.
Deputies said the investigation is ongoing.