14 DAY TRIAL // Putnam County Sheriff Department officers found on Wednesday the body of Johnny Cash's niece, Courtney Cash, stabbed and stuffed in a box in her home in Tennessee.
The news was picked up by Billboard who is reporting that the police released a statement following the incident on Thursday. Sheriff David Andrews has confirmed that Courtney' body has been found on Wednesday morning in her home near Cookeville, 70 miles (112.6 km) from Nashville.
According to police on the scene, the body of the 23-year-old Courtney has been uncovered in a chest just inside of the front door of the home. Her death is believed to have been caused by a scuffle with one Wayne Masciarella from Cape May, New Jersey, who has since been charged with first-degree murder.
The suspect was pointed out to police by William Austin Johnson, a man who was later identified as Courtney's boyfriend. He claimed that he was present at the time of the attack and barely managed to escape with several stab wounds.
Presently, he is being treated by doctors in the Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville. He told investigators that he and Courtney had gone out with a friend before the altercation took place in the house, where they lived with their young child.
The name of the friend was Wayne Masciarella and for some reason, he went into a rage that ended up killing Courtney and injuring her partner William. He managed to somehow escape the attack and took his child to the hospital by car.
Local police forces were shocked when they arrived on the scene, which they described as “somewhat bloody.” The sheriff is being quoted as saying that “there was a struggle,” adding that the suspect may have tried to hide Courtney's body.
The motive of the killing has not yet been released, but Sheriff Andrew led to believe that it might have been connected to drugs “This is a senseless, tragic death of a young lady whose life was probably taken as a direct or indirect result of drugs.”
Following the death of the great-niece of the legendary country singer, Tommy Cash, Johnny's brother, has released a statement in which he asks people to pray for the family after the loss of his granddaughter.
The man suspected of the murder, Masciarella is currently being held without bail and a court date has been scheduled in the case for April 21.