Man Hacks Wife To Death With Axe On Christmas Eve During Heated Argument

In a disturbing story out of Pennsylvania, a 36-year-old man admitted to axing his wife to death, before taking the couple’s two children to his parent’s house and calling the police to confess his crime.

The man, Dustin Lee Klopp, said he punched Stephanie Kilhefner, his wife, in the face, cut her throat, and bashed her head with an ax at their Paradise Township home about 10 p.m. Wednesday, according to a statement from Pennsylvania State Police in Lancaster.

In an attempt to cover his crime, Klopp tried to clean up the blood and moved his wife’s body to a garden shed at the property.

Having called the police at around 5:20 p.m. on Christmas Day, Klopp reportedly turned himself in at around 6:30 p.m. The police stated that he gave a detailed account of the incident during questioning.

When a state trooper arrived at the property at 623 Georgetown Road, where the murder took place, they found Kilhefner’s body in a carrier bag in the shed.

Lancaster Online reported on Christmas Day that Lancaster County District Attorney Craig Stedman said that fortunately the children, aged 5 and 2, didn’t see what happened.

Stedman wouldn’t confirm what Klopp and Kilhefner were arguing about, saying, “I know what he said… What difference does it make? There’s nothing that justifies it.”

Lancaster County Coroner, Dr. Stephen Diamantoni, said an autopsy would be performed Monday. According to court records, Klopp was arrested in September 2009 on drug charges, and served the minimum two-to-four year prison sentence.

Attorney Cory Miller, who represented Klopp, said he was surprised when he found out about the murder, adding, “They both seemed to be very level-headed individuals… He never struck me as a violent individual.”

It remains to be revealed what exactly led to the heated argument, which ended with the tragic Christmas Eve murder of a mother of two.