Mentally Ill Man Found With Mother’s Dismembered Body In Car
October 22, 2012 at 11:08 am by PetePuma
Centennial, CO – Ari Liggett, 24 and mentally ill, was arrested on October 17th after he crashed his vehicle attempting to flee police. The dismembered body of his 56-year-old mother, Beverly Liggett, was found in the back of his car.
Ari Liggett informed police that he’d recently become aware of the fact that his mother had left him out of her will, and was displeased by the news. He is being held without bail at Arapahoe County Jail on suspicion of first-degree murder.
Ronald Liggett, Ari’s father and Beverly’s ex-husband, told a reporter that his son has a long history of mental illness. “We’re failing our society in terms of mental health treatment, prevention and resources. This is a mental-health issue. Like you’re seeing every day in the papers, it won’t be positively addressed until the society takes it as seriously as the war on drugs or terrorism.”
Two days before the apprehension of Ari Liggett, police entered Beverly’s home based upon suspicions of her boyfriend and ex-husband that something had happened to her. She was not answering their calls. Officers found her medication in the home, but her car was missing. They also found traces of blood in the freezer and bathtub, cutting tools in the dishwasher, and potassium cyanide, the same substance ingested by Michael Marin in his courtroom suicide back in July of this year. The case immediately became a homicide investigation at that point.
When police located Ari driving his mother’s car, they attempted to stop him. A brief chase ensued, but ended when he crashed the car. Reports indicate that he said he had found his mother in her home, dead from an apparent suicide. He claims he panicked and placed her body, presumably in pieces, into the freezer. He then allegedly attempted to skip town, but ran out of money and was on his way back to her house when he was apprehended.
According to court documents, Beverly had long feared that her son might try to kill her dating back to when she discovered a modified rifle in her son’s possession in January 2010. During that interview, Beverly alluded to a belief that she didn’t think her son would be released “for a long time,” though the report did not indicate where he was being held, nor the nature of the institution. She did, however, mention that her son had made references to his murderous thoughts, saying that he had stated “he would get rid of the family, meaning her and Ari’s younger sister.”
“The family is Jewish, and so is Ari,” the report said. “Ari had some books on racism that she had found in a bag with other school books. Ari appeared to be slightly obsessed with killing, racism and Hitler. When Ari gets his mind wrapped around an idea, he becomes obsessed with the following through of the idea.”
That very same report stated that deputies had found two containers of crystallized Potassium Ferrocyanide and a gas mask in Ari’s possession. Potassium Ferrocyanide is non-toxic on its own, but can be mixed with a strong acid to release toxic hydrogen cyanide gas.
In March 2010, Ari was arrested for possession of a homemade silencer. He was booked on misdemeanor reckless endangerment and felony possession of a dangerous weapon charges, but served no jail time for the offenses despite convictions on both charges.
Official charges regarding Beverly Liggett’s death are expected to be leveled tomorrow, and investigators are continuing to collect evidence from the home where the murder is believed to have taken place.
Tags: Ari Liggett, Beverly Liggett, Colorado, cyanide, mental illness, Murder
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