It turns out a man accused of the murder of a young US woman had recently written his own murder-mystery novel.
The body of Mackenzie Lueck, 23, from Salt Lake City in the US state of Utah was found on Thursday (NZ time) after she went missing on June 17.
Ayoola Ajayi, 31, has now been charged with aggravated murder, kidnapping, obstruction of justice and desecration of a body. Police suspect some of her remains were burned in his backyard.
In a creepy twist to the circumstances of Lueck's death, Ajayi published a book in 2018 that detailed a murder where the victim was burned alive.
An excerpt from the novel, titled Forge Identity, describes how a teenager witnesses a man "with a tire around him on fire. His body... started to turn into a hard-dried barbecued thing".
The front cover says the story was inspired by true events.
The novel isn't the only alarming detail to emerge from the case as a handyman came forward after Ajayi's arrest to say he had received a request for "weird" home renovations.
Brian Wolf told Fox News that Ajayi wanted a soundproof room, with a secret door, constructed in his basement.
Wolf, who took the request with his nephew, discussed it with him after meeting with Ajayi.
"When we got out to the truck... we both looked at each other and (I) was like, 'That was weird, right?' And he was like: 'Yeah, that was hella weird. We're not doing this job, right?'" Wolf said.
Wolf said he told his nephew: "Hell no."
Newshub.
