Man charged in Lenexa dismemberment case suspected in California murder investigation

A man who faces charges in Kansas and Missouri after police found his wife’s dismembered body inside a Lenexa storage unit last month is also a suspect in a murder case in California, according to a KMBC report.

Justin Rey of Arizona told police that he cut up his wife’s body after she died giving childbirth in a Kansas City hotel room, according to court documents. Rey faces charges of corpse abandonment and endangering the welfare of children in both Jackson and Johnson counties.

Police in Palm Springs, Calif. also suspect Rey in a homicide case, according to KMBC.

Danny Chavez, the spokesman for the Lenexa Police Department, said in an email to The Star Thursday that he could "confirm that their investigators have been in contact with ours."

Rey was involved in a car crash in August of 2016, driving a car that belong to Sean Ty Ferel, a man who was reported missing of that year. A DNA test later showed that Ferel’s blood was in the trunk of the car and surveillance footage links Rey to purchases made with Ferel’s credit card after his disappearance, according to the report.

Ferel’s body has not been found, but the police in Palm Springs have issued a warrant for Rey’s arrest based on that evidence, according to KMBC.

Rey is currently being held in Johnson County on a $1 million bond, but KMBC reports that law enforcement officials in California are working to arrange his extradition to that state in the near future.

This story was originally published November 23, 2017 at 5:26 PM with the headline "Man charged in Lenexa dismemberment case suspected in California murder investigation."