The suspect in the killing of a Texas flight attendant implicated himself and his after-the-fact accomplice in an accidental recording of them transporting the victim's body, police said.
Family members and friends of Rana Nofal Soluri, 47, hadn't heard from her since March, officials said, before Fort Worth police arrested her roommate, Dennis Day, 66, in June.
Police later also arrested Day's friend Joni Thomas, 62, and accused her of helping him dump Soluri's body, Fort Worth Police Detective T.S. O'Brien said in a Tarrant County arrest warrant.
Day admitted to police that he "snapped" during a dispute with Soluri before he "began to strangle her with his bare hands," the warrant said.
After the slaying, he loaded Soluri's body "head first, into a large black trash bin and transported" it 70 miles away to Bowie, where he dumped the remains over a bridge, according to the court document.
Investigators believe they have an "inadvertent call" and message on Thomas’ phone with Day in a panic asking for her help to move Soluri, who worked for a regional carrier owned by American Airlines, police said.
The male voice on Thomas' phone was "consistent" with Day's voice, and it could be heard "breathing heavy as if the person is moving something heavy," the warrant said.
It says that in the one-minute, 57-second recording that came from Day's phone, the male voice could be heard saying:
- “Hey ... help me."
- "Come push it."
- "Make sure the lid's on."
- "And lock it ... turn it sideways."
- “I’m sorry I got you messed up in this."
"This report is consistent with how Dennis Day stated that he moved [Soluri's] body into a trash can and into the bed of a truck at his house," the warrant said.
"This report also confirms the fact that not only did [Thomas] travel to [Day's] house and allowed [Day] to use her truck to transport [Soluri's] body, but that she actually helped load [Soluri's] body into the truck."
Investigators also found home security video from Day's home, showing him dragging “what appears to be a lifeless body from the home into the backyard,” on March 21, police said.
Day was being held at the Tarrant County Corrections Center on Tuesday in lieu of $250,000 bail, jail records showed.
Thomas was booked into custody Aug. 26 and accused of tampering with physical evidence, jail records showed.
Day's attorney couldn't immediately be reached for comment Tuesday. It wasn't immediately clear Tuesday whether Thomas had hired or been assigned an attorney to speak on her behalf.
