A 68-year old man is accused of killing his wife then cooking her on their stove.
Neighbors said an awful smell alerted them to something being very wrong in their Southern California neighborhood.
Police said that 68-year-old Frederick Hengl murdered his 70-year-old wife Anna, then cut up her body and cooked it.
Police said when they showed up to their Oceanside home, they found body parts cooking in three pots on the stove and the woman's head in the freezer.
You can guess how neighbors reacted.
"Something that graphic? Like, it's actually psychotic. Who does that?", was the reaction of Greg Abad.
Hengl pleaded not guilty in court.
"It very much so sounds like a horror story. Like something out of like 'American Psycho,' just cutting up bodies," said neighbor Jordan Kohn.
Neighbors said the rumors of the gruesome details started making the rounds as gossip, but they didn't want to believe what seemed unbelievable.
"It's just weird to think that something that horrific would even happen but that it would happen this close to us," added Kohn.
Police haven't released a motive or a cause of death.
Hengl's next hearing is Dec. 3.
