A Michigan man has admitted to killing and dismembering a man he met on the dating app Grindr, according to court documents made public on Thursday.
Justie Stilwell, a 41-year-old janitor at T.L. Handy Middle School in Bay City, was reported missing on Sept. 18 after failing to show up to work for two days.
Later that day, Bay City investigators responded to reports of human remains floating in the Saginaw River. Those remains were confirmed to be those of Stilwell the following day.
On Sept. 25, city officials announced the arrest of a 40-year-old Bay City man in connection to Stilwell’s death. While police didn’t name the suspect at the time, multiple outlets identified him as Robert Tweedly, who was arraigned in a Bay City court and charged with murdering and dismembering Stillwell.
According to court documents obtained Thursday by MLive.com, Tweedly has confessed to the grisly murder to authorities.
The two men met through the dating app Grindr, according to the documents. Tweedly allegedly told police Stilwell came to his Bay City home on the night of Sept. 14.
When Stilwell didn’t want to stay, Tweedly told detectives he pushed the victim down his basement stairs and later strangled him to death.
Stilwell’s body was too heavy to move, so Tweedly allegedly went to a nearby Walmart to buy an ax and bags. He then dismembered the body, according to the documents, and dumped his arms and legs in the Saginaw River.
Tweedly also disposed of Stilwell’s head and torso in a nature preserve, he told police. Detectives later recovered those parts there, court documents say.
Tweedly’s attorney, James Piazza, said Thursday he had met with his client, but declined to comment on the case, MLive.com reported.