Kentucky Man Charged With Murder After Allegedly Telling Family About Body In His Truck

A Kentucky man faces multiple charges after he allegedly told his family that he had killed a woman and transported the body in his truck.

Denny Rumfelt, 29, is charged with murder — domestic violence, abuse of a corpse and tampering with physical evidence after Meade County Sheriff's officers were called to his home in Vine Grove, Kentucky by family members on Wednesday afternoon, according to Fox affiliate WDRB in Louisville. (Kentucky does not have many domestic violence-specific statutes but recognizes it as an enhancement to existing violent crimes when inflicted on a spouse, former spouse, a co-parent or person with whom the suspect does or used to cohabitate, among other people.)

Rumfelt had allegedly told his parents and brother that he killed a woman, and that "it is wrapped up in carpet and has tape around it." He added that he believed the body was in his truck, which was parked outside, according to authorities.

When law enforcement arrived, Rumfelt exited his house and surrendered to officers, according to charging documents reviewed by The News-Enterprise.

WDRB reported that court documents they reviewed said the sheriff's department obtained a warrant to search Rumfelt's green pickup truck, a 1997 GMC Sierra, which was parked outside his home. On the passenger side, they saw something wrapped in a sleeping bag and secured in duct tape. 

They removed the sleeping bag and its contents, placed it on a sheet of plexiglass and called the coroner. When he arrived and it was opened, there was the body of a woman inside, with duct tape  covering her eyes and around her mouth, authorities said.

Rumfelt was arrested and his bond was set at $50,000 cash. He remained at the Meade County Detention Center at the time of publication and was scheduled for arraignment on the morning of Sept. 29.

At the time of his arrest, Rumfelt had blood on his shirt and ears, including a large amount on the left lower sleeve of his shirt, which had been rolled up to apparently accommodate a duct-tape secured bandage on his left forearm, the News-Enterprise reported. Police said in charging documents that the duct tape used to secure the bandage appeared to match that found on the woman.

The wound on Rumfelt's arm reportedly required four stitches.

Police have not released the name of the woman whose body was discovered in Rumfelt's truck, but WDRB reported that an autopsy had been scheduled for Thursday morning in Louisville.