Farmer's Body Found in Manure Pile, Wife Charged

A murder and a mess at the Mess farm: The wife of Douglas Mess was charged with murder after his body was found in a manure pile at his farm in western New York state Monday night. A police source tells the Buffalo News that Charlene Mess is believed to have killed her husband when "a fight got out of hand." Officials say that after one of the couple's four adult sons reported Mess missing on Monday afternoon when he failed to show up for work, civilian search volunteers unearthed the body in the 14-by-12-foot pile of manure and compost, the Wyoming County Free Press reports. The 52-year-old was declared dead at the scene.

A police spokesman asked by the News whether there were any signs of how Mess had been killed said it "was tough to do an initial on-scene examination." Asked whether police had been called to the farmhouse in Attica before, he said, "It's a well-known family, for good reasons." A neighbor tells the Free Press that the couple worked the farm together and seemed like nice people. "I feel bad for him," he says. "He was a good guy who worked hard. I've seen him at one in the morning working. He was a good guy." Charlene Mess, 48, is being held without bail on a second-degree murder charge. (More weird crimes stories.)