Husband fatally stabs 18-year-old he found in same bed as his wife

A husband found an 18-year-old in bed with his wife, then stabbed him to death and tried to dispose of the body, Tennessee authorities said.

Jonathan Belk, 41, is accused of killing Billy Jean Floyd, who had turned 18 three days before he died, according to the Sequatchie County Sheriff’s Office.

Belk’s 31-year-old wife told authorities at a hospital that she and Floyd were asleep in bed the morning of March 8 when she woke up to Belk on top of Floyd, stabbing him, deputies wrote in an arrest affidavit. She had also sustained stab wounds to her leg in the attack, according to deputies. Deputies said they went to the home where the incident occurred and found Belk “covered in blood” with wounds on his hands. Investigators noticed a trash can by the front door, but when one deputy tried to kick it aside, the can didn’t budge, investigators wrote in the report. When they asked Belk why the trash can was so heavy, he confirmed there was a body inside, according to investigators. He was arrested without incident, the report says. Deputies believe Floyd was a stranger to Belk. During intake at jail, Belk told correctional staff, “I am worried about my relationship with my wife due to the fact that I offed him,” according to the affidavit.

According to Floyd’s obituary, the 18-year-old also went by Lil Bill.

“He enjoyed hunting, fishing, four wheelers and working on everything,” loved ones wrote in his obituary. “He mostly enjoyed spending time with his family and friends.”

Belk is charged with criminal homicide.

The location of the incident is about a 30-mile drive north from Chattanooga.

By OLIVIA LLOYD/McClatchy News

John F. McCarthy is a veteran journalist in the Caribbean, writing from the "Decision Space" where survival meets the surreal. His reporting steel was tempered by a lineage of legendary editors and broadcasters, including Ed Wynn Brant (The Bomb), Owen Eschenroder (Ann Arbor News), Lynelle Emanuel (BVI Beacon), and Charles Thanas (WSVI-TV). Alongside longtime colleague Kenneth C. "Casey" Clark, McCarthy has navigated the front lines of the territory’s history—from the 1997 volcanic "snow" to every major hurricane since Hugo. Known for leaning out of doorless helicopters to capture the "money shot," McCarthy now edits the V.I. Free Press, providing the essential link between the island's colonial past and its SpaceX future.