Melissa Wolfenbarger: Bond Denied for Georgia Man Accused of Killing Wife, Found Decapitated

A Fulton County judge in Georgia denied bond for Christopher Wolfenbarger, who remains in custody while awaiting trial for the murder and disappearance of his wife, Melissa Wolfenbarger, 11Alive News reports.

As CrimeOnline previously reported, police booked Wolfenbarger into the Fulton jail in July on a murder charge in connection with the death of Melissa, a 21-year-old mother of two who vanished in 1998. Atlanta police announced his arrest during a news conference in August but did not reveal what new evidence had surfaced.

Wolfenbarger was a person of interest from the start, according to Detective Jarion Shepard.

Melissa Wolfenbarger’s family last heard from her on Thanksgiving 1998, when she called from her husband’s grandparents’ home, according to a police report at the time.

Months passed without any word from Melissa. Then, in 1999, investigators found a human head, soaked in bleach in a black trash bag, off of Avon Avenue in Atlanta, The head was in an area behind a glass company where Christopher Wolfenbarger once worked.

Police said he didn’t report his wife missing until 2000, claiming that he last saw her.

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“This defendant inflicted homicidal violence upon Melissa Wolfenbarger, his wife, who he was separated from,” Attorney Brian Trepanier said. “Medical examiners were able to determine that the dismemberment appeared to have been done by a mechanical or electrical saw.”

Prosecutors referenced Christopher Wolfenbarger’s criminal record, noting that since the 1990s, he has been charged with four felonies, mostly for theft, and also for failure to appear in court for past cases, and violated probation in 2003.

Wolfenbarger’s defense countered by emphasizing that these offenses happened decades ago, pointing to his age and insisting he should be presumed innocent while awaiting trial.

“Mr. Wolfenbarger is a risk of flight,” Trepanier added, noting how when authorities showed up to his home for his arrest, he hid behind an alcove and dryer.