An Indiana resident faces murder charges after allegedly using the blunt side of an ax to kill his girlfriend during a heated dispute outside her residence, then abandoning her body at the scene.

Travis Wolfe, aged 45, stands accused of murdering 51-year-old Kimberly Stewart. In addition to the murder charge, he faces allegations of unlawfully possessing a firearm as a serious violent felon, as documented in court records accessed by Law&Crime. Wolfe is currently detained without bail at the Marion County Adult Detention Center.

Authorities contend that both Stewart and Wolfe were present on a property located on the 1300 block of South Lynhurst Drive in Indianapolis, Indiana, on the day of the incident. Stewart resided in the house, while Wolfe took up residence in the garage.

The couple reportedly engaged in frequent arguments, according to a probable cause affidavit shared by local Fox affiliate WXIN. On the day before the fatal encounter, they clashed over a water pump Wolfe had installed in a BMW, as per a friend’s account.

This friend described Wolfe as a “psychopath maniac,” claiming that he had been making threats to “kill people” and had been shouting at neighbors, suspecting they were conspiring against him. Wolfe was known for his erratic behavior, which included wielding an ax in the backyard, according to police reports.

The grim discovery of Stewart’s body was reportedly made by this same friend, who had known her for a decade through their shared vehicle sales business. On Tuesday afternoon, he had messaged her about stopping by to collect a car title for a vehicle they had recently sold.

The friend arrived at Stewart’s home around 4:30 p.m. but did not see her, the affidavit stated. Her blue Dodge Nitro was in the driveway, and she wasn’t answering her texts. However, the latter point was not completely strange; she worked an overnight shift at a UPS distributor and often slept during the day.

Still, the friend messaged her again later that night, saying he was coming over, per WXIN. When he got there just shy of 11 p.m., he saw her dog outside, which he found odd because the dog largely stayed inside. As he walked further, he found other apparently abnormal things.

The dog was “going crazy” toward the garage, and the home’s back door was unusually locked. As the friend approached the garage, he found that no one was there, which was strange because “Travis doesn’t leave here ever,” police said.

The friend dialed Stewart’s phone and heard a ring, the court document goes on. And as he followed the tone, he saw her lying between a wooden fence and an outdoor spa. She was stiff and cool to the touch, police said.

The Indianapolis Metro Police Department (IMPD) reported being called to the home about “a report of an unresponsive female” at about 11 p.m. on Tuesday. When officers got there, they found Stewart “in a backyard with injuries consistent with trauma.”

She “had died at the scene before police arrived,” the department said. An autopsy found that she died from blunt force trauma, police said.

Detectives launched an investigation, spoke to the friend, and identified Wolfe as a suspect. Within three hours, they found him about 12 miles northeast on East 19th Street and North Drexel Avenue in the city. He was arrested for the firearm charge and questioned about Stewart’s death.

Wolfe was reportedly in a BMW when officers found him, and he allegedly told them that after he and Stewart had argued, he had left the residence in her Dodge Nitro before noticing it was nearly out of gas and returning to drive the BMW. He denied hitting Stewart with an ax.

However, another witness apparently helped investigators build their case. A man told police he was in his driveway around 10:30 p.m. on Tuesday when he heard a woman yell and then saw a man between the wooden fence and spa swinging something toward the ground. This man — later identified by police as Wolfe — was also yelling at a dog to “shut up.”

Wolfe was charged just before 1 a.m. on Thursday with murder.

“Thanks to the relentless work of our detectives and the courage of the community, a dangerous individual is in custody today,” said IMPD Deputy Chief Kendale Adams. “One of our detectives worked several hours straight to ensure this case came together quickly and thoroughly. Just as important, community members provided key information that helped secure the murder charge.”