Horror as dad beheaded at motel after 'argument over broken washing machine'

A man was brutally killed and decapitated at a motel after an argument that allegedly broke out over a broken washing machine, police have said.

Suspect Yordanis Cobos-Martinez, 37, allegedly stabbed the victim "with an edged weapon several times” in downtown Dallas, according to the arrest affidavit. Police were called to the horrific scene on Wednesday at around 9.30am local time, where they reportedly found Cobos-Martinez covered in blood and armed with a machete, along with the victim's head in a bin.

Dallas Fire-Rescue rushed to the scene where the victim, identified as 50-year-old Chandra Nagamallaiah, was pronounced dead. Cobos-Martinez was arrested and charged with capital murder following the brutal killing at Downtown Suites Dallas on Samuell Blvd, in Texas.

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Cobos-Martinez allegedly admitted to killing Mr Nagamallaiah with the machete, saying the argument started over a broken washing machine, the affidavit obtained by NBC 5 reveals. The affidavit includes further details of the brutal attack in which Mr Nagamallaiah was beheaded, with investigators saying the victim's head had been placed in a bin.

According to an arrest affidavit, Cobos-Martinez was cleaning a room with a co-worker when Mr Nagamallaiah approached him and told him not to use a broken washing machine. The co-worker told police that Cobos-Martinez then became upset that the victim was speaking to her to translate instead of speaking directly to him.

"Video shows the suspect then exited the motel room and produced a machete from his person and started cutting and stabbing the complainant multiple times," the affidavit states. One witness, who did not want to be identified, said the victim first yelled for help, then ran towards his wife and son, who were in the motel office.

Witness Stephanie Elliott told WFAA that after Mr Nagamallaiah tried to escape, he eventually fell down. “He just kept hitting him and hitting until he decapitated him,” she told the channel. “I could not believe that anybody would do another human being that way.”

The unnamed witness added that the victim's son tried hitting the man with a bat, but he continued to stab Mr Nagamallaiah with the machete. The suspect is then said to have kicked Mr Nagamallaiah's decapitated head into the car park before picking it up and putting it in a dumpster, according to the affidavit.

When Cobos-Martinez was arrested, he was still armed with the machete, along with Mr Nagamallaiah's key card and mobile phone, according to police. Nancy Pineda, who works next door to the motel, told NBC 5 that police swarmed the area, adding that she was "really shocked". She recalled: "There was a lady who came in here and told me there was a guy running or something."

Public records link Cobos-Martinez to crimes in Houston, California and Florida. He has been charged with capital murder and has been placed on an ICE hold at the Dallas County Jail. Records show he is a Cuban national. The motel property owners told NBC 5 that Mr Nagamallaiah had managed the hotel for two to three years, describing him as a good, hardworking person.