Teenage son strangled his mother to death and his father witnessed the killing via their home security camera

A teenager has been arrested and charged for killing his mother after his father watched their home security footage and saw him strangling his mother to death.

19-year-old Garrett Behlau is accused of killing his 54-year-old mother, Theresa Behlau. He was arrested on on Wednesday afternoon, August 19 after his father called Chattanooga police upon watching home security footage eight hours away.

At around 2:30 p.m., Chattanooga police were called to a home in the Waterhaven subdivision located along South Chickamauga Creek, according to a news release.

The caller told police he was about eight hours out of town but had just reviewed home security footage where he saw his son, Garrett Behlau, strangle his mother, Theresa Behlau, “until she was lifeless,” Hamilton County court records state. 

The man said he then saw Garrett Behlau drag his mother’s body out of the camera’s view.

When police arrived at the home, they found Garrett Behlau sitting on the floor in his bedroom, according to court records.

They asked him where his mother was, and he told them “in the woods,” police wrote in the criminal affidavit. When officers searched the woods, they found Theresa Behlau’s lifeless body, her head covered in Saran wrap.

The affidavit states that investigators later viewed the video footage showing Garrett strangling his mother, dragging her body away, then returning with paper towels to clean up the crime scene.

The 19-year-old is charged with criminal homicide, abuse of a corpse, and tampering with evidence. His bond was set to $300,000, and his first court appearance is scheduled for Aug. 25.