Police in North Carolina found two people trying to bury a body and arrested them.
A neighbor noticed a suspicious-looking man and woman in a stuck vehicle near an abandoned home in the Ellendale community in Alexander County, and called police.
Tony Hearne, the man who was arrested on Wednesday, told WSOC-TV that he killed in his uncle Tico Hearne in self-defense.
“I never wanted to fight my uncle but he came in and came at me with his knife. So we were fighting and I tried to defend myself. He was choking me and I was choking him,” Tony Hearne said.
The plan to bury the body unraveled when their car got stuck and a local resident called police.
The body was found after deputies followed drag marks in the leaves. The body was covered with leaves and a couple of tires along with some wood.
Hearne, 53, of Macklenburg County, was with Linsby Lentz, 33, of Albemarle, reported WCNC.
They were both charged with first-degree murder.