Man found driving with wife's severed head

A US man pleaded with police officers to kill him after his wife’s severed head was tossed from his pick-up truck as he drove into an oncoming car, killing two people, prosecutors said.

Alofa Time, 50, who was not seriously injured in Thursday’s crash, was carrying a suicide note and had set aside money for unspecified arrangements after his death, prosecutors said.

The collision, on a major road through Boise, Idaho, killed Samantha Nina Murphy, 36, and her daughter Jae Lynne Grimes, four, both of Boise.

Murphy’s other daughter, eight-year-old Syndee Murphy, is in a fair condition in hospital in Boise.

A judge in Canyon County denied bail for Time, who was charged with the first-degree murder of his wife, 47-year-old Theresa Time. Her headless body was found after the crash at the home she had shared with her husband in Nampa, a Boise suburb.

Time was also charged with two counts of second-degree murder in connection with the crash.

At a hearing yesterday, bail was set at $1m (€850,000).

According to court records, Time had a history of abuse.

He faced domestic battery charges for allegedly choking his wife in March. A trial was already set for July 25. A judge issued a no-contact order, which barred Time from seeing his wife.

Theresa Time filed paperwork asking that the order be withdrawn. Last month, after she completed “Safety Planning Classes” at a local crisis centre, the no-contact order was lifted.

The judge in Boise also said Time had a criminal record, stemming from wife abuse incidents in California.

Time’s voice trembled as he answered questions during his appearance in court.