Part of human skull and burned wallet lead to 77-year-old’s arrest, Arizona officials say

A man is facing prison time after being convicted of killing a man before burning his body, Arizona officials said.

The Ash Fork Post Office reported to deputies that John McCabe, 65, hadn’t picked up his mail for over a year, according to a Feb. 19 news release from the Yavapai County Attorney’s Office.

In April 2023, deputies responded to McCabe’s property to perform a welfare check and found 77-year-old Terry Welfenberg living on the 30-acre lot, officials said.

When asked about McCabe, Welfenberg denied knowing where he was and told officers he was allowed to be on the property, prosecutors said.

During the search of the lot, one volunteer who had archaeological experience found a piece of a human skull in a burn pit near Welfenberg’s trailer, officials said.

After digging through the burn pit, officers found human bones, a burned wallet holding the man’s car registration, and a metal medical alert bracelet with McCabe’s information, officials said.

Due to the severity of the burns on the bones, no DNA could be recovered so no cause of death could be determined, officials said.

Initially, Welfenberg denied accusations when confronted but eventually said he killed McCabe in self-defense before burning his body, officials said.

He was found guilty of manslaughter, abandonment or concealment of a dead body and tampering with evidence, officials said.

He is facing 7 to 21 years in prison for a manslaughter charge and “up to 1.5 years in prison for each of the other charges,” prosecutors said.

He is scheduled to reappear in court on March 24 for his sentencing, officials said.

Yavapai County is about a 100-mile drive north of Phoenix.

This story was originally published February 21, 2025 at 10:26 AM with the headline "Part of human skull and burned wallet lead to 77-year-old’s arrest, Arizona officials say."