KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Suceli Perez Cruz's killer not only wanted her dead. He wanted to deliver a violent, furious message, an autopsy report shows.
Using a sharp, heavy blade -- a machete, perhaps -- the killer repeatedly "chopped" into the 18-year-old's face and head, the Regional Forensic Center report shows. The July homicide stands out for the extraordinary degree to which it was carried out.
Perez's former boyfriend, Juan Carlos Diaz Perez, 21, is being held in the Knox County jail, charged with first-degree murder. He's facing a preliminary hearing Dec. 11 in Knox County General Sessions Court.
The victim, mother to a toddler, was from Honduras, records state. Jail records show an immigration hold has been placed on Diaz.
If a judge finds probable cause, the case against Diaz will be sent on to the grand jury for review and possible indictment.
KPD spokesman Scott Erland gave a statement to 10News on Tuesday after the report was released. He said: "Our thoughts remain with the family, friends and loved ones of Suceli Perez, who was tragically and brutally murdered in July. That was an extremely difficult, delicate and complex scene to process, and we greatly appreciate the unheralded work of our crime scene technicians. Their careful and comprehensive efforts will help get justice for Suceli."
Perez died July 22 "of extensive chopping injuries to the head and neck region, which caused massive fragmentation of the facial and frontal bones..." the document states. An autopsy also showed signs of strangulation, records show.
Evidence indicates the attack occurred at Diaz's home on Mercer Street. Teeth, bones and blood were found there, records show, but that's not where her body was found.
Diaz's white Ford F-150 pickup was later found by Oak Ridge police at a park near Sweet Gum Lane. Inside the pickup bed was Perez's body and a machete, according to the autopsy report.
Diaz had abandoned the truck, authorities said. He was eventually taken into custody after trying to hide from authorities. He'd called a relative in Honduras to tell her he'd killed his girlfriend and planned to take his own life, a warrant states.
Roane County Medical Examiner Dr. Thomas Boduch pronounced Perez dead. Her autopsy was conducted at the Regional Forensic Center in Knoxville.
The attack on Perez was so vicious that her face, especially the nasal bridge, was extensively fractured and caved in, the report states.
Knox County Medical Examiner Dr. Darinka Mileusnic-Polchan noted in her report some two dozen cuts of various sizes and depths to the victim's neck. Also, the veteran examiner found "the facial injury appears to be a composite of at least 50 separate injuries or strikes, many of which are superimposed on each other and partially obscured by the caved-in, obliterated central facial structures."
Perez's body also bore marks consistent with defensive chopping wounds, on her left and right arms and hands, where she apparently tried to ward off some of the blows.
Her clothing was covered in dried mud and dirt, the report states.
Dr. Mileusnic sought also help from veteran anthropologist Dr. Murray Marks of the University of Tennessee. She wanted to match up bones and teeth found at the Mercer Street site with Perez's body.
Marks matched up the remains, the report states, examining the bones and partial skull.
"Given this degree of destruction, matching cuts on dislodged pieces to obtain a precise enumeration is impossible. Hence, twenty-seven sharp force impact events is a conservative estimate to what was received," Marks wrote.
Marks' work has included an exam of the skull of Colleen Slemmer, murdered in January 1995 by Christa Gail Pike. Pike, after delivering repeated blows to Slemmer's skull, took a piece of Slemmer's skull as a souvenir and bragged about it to friends.
