An Arizona man is behind bars after he allegedly beat his wife to death with a baseball bat and drove 100 miles with her body in the back seat.

Brandon Gregory, 56, is being charged with second-degree murder, manslaughter, tampering with physical evidence, and hiding a deceased body after the death of his 41-year-old wife, Alison Gregory, according to a press release from the Surprise Police Department. The investigation kicked off on May 14 when Alison didn’t show up to pick up a family member from the airport as expected. Relatives informed the police that the Gregorys were experiencing a “difficult divorce.”

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The police conducted a search at the Gregory residence where they noticed indicators of a potential physical altercation. They began tracking the couple’s vehicles and found Brandon Gregory in the town of Wikieup, Mohave County, approximately 100 miles from Surprise, with his wife’s body located in the back seat of the vehicle.

Cops took the suspect into custody. He allegedly admitted to killing his wife.

According to court documents referenced by CBS affiliate KPHO, the suspect indicated their house was being sold and his wife asked him to leave, which led to a heated argument. He claimed that during the altercation, she kicked him in the groin while holding a wooden baseball bat. Reportedly, he wrestled the bat from her grip, and as she ran around the house screaming, he allegedly struck her multiple times with the bat. The suspect purportedly cleaned the blood from the walls before driving to a nearby parking lot.

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After taking an Uber home, he put his wife’s body in her SUV and drove away, according to cops. He ditched her phone and Apple Watch at a gas station, the complaint reportedly said. The defendant then went to a campground in Wikieup and threw the bat in an open field, officers wrote.

Brandon Gregory also wrote a letter to his children asking them for “forgiveness for his actions,” the complaint reportedly said.

Prosecutors noted at a bond hearing how the “brutality of this case is alarming,” according to a courtroom report from KPHO. The victim’s family urged the judge to keep him behind bars and described the couple’s volatile relationship.

“He lied and manipulated his way back into her life. She uncovered more lies, lie after lie,” he said. “The guy’s entire life has been a lie. He’s a manipulator and a murderer. We ask that you deny any bond and don’t ever let him out again.”