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PORTSMOUTH, R.I. (WBZ NewsRadio) — A Portsmouth, R.I. man is charged with murdering his landlord with an axe on Monday. Police said 50-year-old Xue Feng Wu went to go check on his rental property on West Main Road early on Monday.
Portsmouth Police were called for a well-being check on the West Main Road at 4:30 p.m., as Wu had not been heard from since leaving in the morning. Officers said they spoke to the tenant, Jacob Morrill, who they said told police that his landlord had been at the property earlier and left.
About an hour and a half later Portsmouth Police say Morrill called them and confessed to killing Wu. Morrill surrendered peacefully at a local gas station. He told police where Wu's body was. The man allegedly hit Wu in the head with a small axe after he and Wu had gotten in an argument in the garage.
First responders found the body wrapped up with a tarp in a patch of woods behind the West Main Road house.
Morrill was arraigned on first-degree murder charges at Newport County District Court on Tuesday. He was ordered held without bail.
"The Portsmouth Police Department extends our sincere condolences to Mr. Wu’s family for their tragic loss," a statement from police said.
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