(Gillette, Wyo.) “I finished it. Make sure she doesn’t come alive; she ruined my family,” Timothy Welch, 46, told deputies, according to the affidavit.
Yesterday at approximately 12:50 p.m., deputies of the Campbell County Sheriff’s Office responded to a residence located at 1573 Midland Rd., where a call had come from a frantic 10-year-old girl who made the statement “my dad is beating the snot out of my mother,” the affidavit reads.
Investigators learned from the 10-year-old girl that Welch and Kayleen had been arguing earlier that day, and that she had witnessed Welch hitting his wife repeatedly in the chest and breast area while in the bathroom, says the affidavit.
The 10-year-old reportedly left the residence after grabbing her mother’s phone and dialed 9-1-1.
The affidavit states that deputies found Timothy Welch in the master bedroom of the residence with a significant amount of dried blood on his right hand and on his sweat pants.
Deputies reportedly inquired as to the whereabouts of Welch’s wife, identified yesterday as 41-year-old Kayleen Welch, and located her in the bathroom.
Welch told deputies “Don’t bring her back, she’s the devil,” the affidavit said.
Kayleen was lying on the bathroom floor, the affidavit reads. She was not responsive and deputies could see bruising on her neck and blood on both the front and back of her head.
Blood covered an area on the floor between the toilet and bathtub where Kayleen’s head had been lying, and one of the floor tiles appeared to be cracked.
She was not breathing.
Deputies immediately administered CPR until emergency medical service personnel arrived to take over lifesaving procedures, but at 1:06 p.m., Kayleen was pronounced deceased at the scene.
A deputy had compared Kayleen to a Facebook photo, and Kayleen’s injuries left her unrecognizable, which also appeared to be the cause of death.
Welch was placed into investigative detention while deputies and EMS personnel were attempting to save Kayleen’s life. Reportedly, while he was in custody Welch made repeated requests for his bible and had directed deputies to look at it.
The affidavit states that after receiving a warrant to search the premises, investigators located the bible, which was open to the book of Psalms, passages 92-95.
No weapons were identified at the scene.
Welch reportedly exclaimed to deputies “I’m guilty, I’m guilty” and was subsequently transported to the CCSO, where according to the affidavit, he resorted to a rambling and praying state and prevented investigators from interviewing him.
At approximately 2:12 p.m., Welch began screaming uncontrollably and was formally arrested.
Welch is currently charged with second degree murder and is believed to be responsible for Kayleen Welch’s death, which, should he be convicted in a court of law, carries a penalty of imprisonment of 20 years to life and up to a $10,000 fine.
The CCSO has confirmed that the autopsy of Kayleen Welch was carried out yesterday evening, but they have not yet received the report from the Campbell County Coroner. So the official cause of death for Kayleen Welch remains unknown at this time.
