Months after he told police that his wife died after taking a fatal fall, cops in Columbus, Ohio, have arrested her 39-year-old husband, charging him just this week with her murder.
Austen Medek has now been formally accused by investigators of killing his wife and the mother of his three children, 41-year-old Michaela Medek, who was discovered unresponsive on the morning of September 10.
Columbus Police confirm they had been summoned to the couple’s home shortly after 3:20 a.m. that morning and arrived soon after, where they found an injured Michaela.
Michaela was then subsequently rushed to OhioHealth Pickerington Hospital in Pickerington, where doctors spent several days trying to save her life. But they couldn’t and she was pronounced dead on September 14, according to the Columbus Dispatch.
Soon after, homicide detectives spoke with Austen Medek, who said that he wasn’t quite sure what had happened to Michaela. He proposed that she could have somehow fallen and told investigators he found her in an unconscious state, the Columbus Dispatch reported.
But in time, an autopsy proved that Michaela’s injuries were inconsistent with a hard fall, according to the Columbus Dispatch report.
In fact, Michaela’s injuries were more consistent with a severe beating, authorities determined. Most of the injuries she sustained were to the head and medical examiners eventually labelled her death as a homicide.
According to police, Michaela was allegedly beaten by Austen during a violent domestic violence incident, but they did not provide additional details.
Medek was arrested on Monday, December 15, by a Columbus Police SWAT squad, the Columbus Dispatch reports. The father and accused killer remains in custody without a set bond.
On the same day that she died, Austen went on Facebook and decided to share the news about Michaela’s death in an awkwardly worded social media post.
“This will be the hardest post I’ll ever do,” it began. “As most have heard my Beautiful wife, my rock and Mother to our 3 precious children, passed away Thursday, September 11th at 1pm in the afternoon.”
The Facebook post in question was reviewed by Us Weekly.
It continued: “Michaela Medek was not an easy one to convince to be my girlfriend, in fact it took a long time to break down her distrust in men. But over time and lots of patience she finally agreed to ‘go steady.’ Our relationship to each other was always a continuous improvement for both of us. Eventually growing into our faith and more.
“I don’t have enough space to tell you everything about how beautiful My Kayla was,” the post concluded. “Just know she was my complete world and Im lost without her. I will continue to make Jesus a priority to the kids and myself to ensure we make it back to her in heaven.”
Medek has not been asked to enter pleas to the charges. Attempts to reach his lawyer for comment were unsuccessful Friday.
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