A parolee has been charged with first-degree murder in the death of a Greeley woman whose body was found last month .
David Wayne Batty, 53, is also charged with abusing a corpse, court records show. He is being held without bond.
The corpse of 47-year-old Tonya Lei Webster was discovered by two parole officers to Batty’s apartment in Greeley.
Greeley police said Webster’s body was found in a chest-type trunk in a closet. Batty was initially arrested on parole violations before the murder charges were handed down.
Prosecutors say arrest documents in the case have been sealed. Court records show Batty is due before a judge on Tuesday to be formally advised of the accusations against him.
Authorities have not said how Webster died.
Batty has a history of several domestic violence convictions, assaults and sexual assaults dating back to 1982, according to Colorado Bureau of Investigation records.
He was sentenced to eight years in prison in 2010.
Laurie Kilpatrick, spokeswoman for the Colorado Department of Corrections, said the parole officers who found Webster’s body acted swiftly.
Jesse Paul: 303-954-1733, jpaul@denverpost.com or @JesseAPaul
![[prison 19] Caption: This is Cellhouse 1, Pod A, from ground level inside the Sterling Correctional Facility which is located outside of Sterling, Colorado Thursday afternoon. Photographer: LEW SHERMAN Title: FREELANCE Credit: SPECIAL TO THE POST City: Sterling State: CO Country: USA Date: 19990617 ObjectName: prison 19 Keyword: PUBDATE____1999_06_22](/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/20151207__denverpostp1.jpg?w=538 "20151207__denverpost~p1.jpg")
