Christopher Whaley Arrested: Florida Man Allegedly Murdered Grandmother In Her Bathtub

Police say the last words Christopher Whaley's grandmother may have prevented the murder suspect from causing more tragedy.

A grandmother's last words to a grandson accused of stabbing her to death may have spared the rest of her family's lives, police in Florida say.

"I love you," was the final sentence Barbara Denmark uttered to her grandson, Christopher Chase Whaley. The 23-year-old allegedly murdered his grandmother in her bathtub following an argument on Saturday, according to a police report obtained by The Huffington Post.

Around 8:15 p.m., Polk County Sheriff's Patrol deputies responded to a call from the suspect's residence in Lake Wales. Upon arrival, authorities discovered the 69-year-old victim's body in her bedroom, with the suspect "cradling her head" in his hands, according to the report.

"I can't believe I did that," Whaley said in an audio taped confession.

Whaley told authorities that he "sat in his room and planned to murder the victim." He said that he called a friend to "talk him down," but the friend did not answer her telephone.

"After thinking about it for a while, he went into the kitchen and grabbed two knives from a drawer and went into the victim's bedroom where he located her taking a bath," according to the arrest report. "He stated he had a knife in each hand and repeatedly stabbed the victim."

Whatley confessed to authorities that he also planned to kill his aunt and everyone in her house, but his grandmother's last words made him "no longer want to kill the others," according to the report.

Whaley is charged with first degree murder. He is currently being held in the Polk County Jail.

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Comments

[babygrl072400]

04:48 PM on 08/03/2012

This story displays the difference between conditional love and unconditonal love. Contrary to what most think, unconditional love is hard for humans to experience. This grandmother on the other hand is an exception. She could have fought back. She could have called him what he is, a monster, but she chose to give him one last piece of what real love is! She stopped his potential rampage by saying three simple words. So simple and yet so complex. There is no denying that this man is mentally unstable and what he did is so terrible. I am only glad that his grandmother chose, at that moment, to share her unconditional love, instead of allowing his rage to go on. I am sorry that the family lost two loved ones today, because he is not the person they once loved and he will either rot in jail or be given the death penatly. Not to mention the grandmother who died at the hands of HER beloved grandson. What a terrible way to go. Regardless, he should never again be let free with an insanity plea, which I am sure is the route they want to go.

[Zilvernation]

04:02 AM on 05/09/2012

What the hell kind of children are we raising now days? Those that are spoiled rotten so much so that their parents/grandparents, literally, let them get away with murder. My god this is not a sweet, warm, fuzzy story, this is ridiculous. If you ask me this explains alot of what is wrong with the boy. I love my daughter dearly and by that I mean I love her more than anything in the world but if you think I am going to tell her I lover her and "OK" her killing me or ANYONE your FLIPPPIN crazy. That sh$t will not happen. She better Kill me however, if she tries, because there would be some serious repercussions if she doesn't succeed.... and not by the way of me telling her "Its okay I love you anyway".....I think this story is now even sicker.....Our children now days are not taught repercussisons and responsibilitites, they are coddled to and cowarred down to, wake up parents...your not doing your children any favors by not disciplining them or holding them responsibole for their own actions.

[Bunny Olesen]

03:52 AM on 07/07/2012

Too bad for you! She never said ITS OKAY, she said I LOVE YOU which stopped him killing several other relatives.;

I guess if it happened in your household, everybody else would just DIE because you're so narcissistic.
If YOUR kid was killing YOU, unless they had a mental illness it would be DIRECTLY YOUR FAULT. I don't even want to hear any excuses or denials from anybody else.

If you show your children love, respect, but are firm when they do something wrong - you can expect a child who will love & respect you (but still be embarrassed of you as a teen) and who understands right from wrong.

My son was always a better person than I ever was, because contrary to the way I was raised, I gave him all the attention he needed, loved him & hugged him each day & night, read to him, showed interest in the things HE liked, but was very stern when something was 'wrong'. Later on when I'd ask him 'why not this or that" he would very firmly tell me "because it's WRONG" In the end he was always correcting ME, maybe bad language or losing my temper if somebodys car blocked mine in. He would always be right.

You sound like one of the jerks who raises these lunatics with your MEAN ATTITUDE.
My son would never physically hurt me, but I hope I would survive so I could tell him I loved him, not to hurt

[malsummers]

08:15 PM on 05/05/2012

This man lived with me for 3 weeks during highschool together. He was somewhat a freind. He was troubled back then too... When I saw his face and name on the news I was shocked but assumed it was pot related charges...then 1st degree murder pops up....I was floored. Scary to know that someone who slept in my own home was capable of that.

[BurningParamour]

06:35 PM on 05/03/2012

=(

[lemuria1]

04:37 PM on 05/02/2012

I don't want to judge his guilt or mete his punishment but only to comment on the veracity of his Grandmother's words. Perhaps she was channeling the words of GOD to help her grandson back to reality. I once thought i was dying at the hands of another. When i thought i was going out i managed to say that i was sorry the attacker couldn't feel the love in the world for anyone to experience, and that i loved them and forgave them for what was about to happen. The most amazing thing then happened....His eyes rolled backward in his head and he passed out and i could save my life. I don't think it was my sentiments coming through at the moment... it was a voice that came from elsewhere that touched his soul and saved my life. For the grandmother it was too late but her grandson did snap out of his spiritual forgetfulness/insanity with her last words. Love is real and it heals.

[Bunny Olesen]

03:53 AM on 07/07/2012

Lemuria1, that is an incredible and wonderful story. Thanks.

[elvirawalker]

04:22 PM on 05/02/2012

What a waste of sperm.

[Janice Turner]

03:51 PM on 05/02/2012

WELCOME TO AMERICA: Take off all your clothes and walk down the street waving a machete and firing an Uzi, and terrified citizens will phone the police and report, "There's a naked person outside!'

[MakingModeratorsWorkOT]

03:37 PM on 05/02/2012

The day a "friend" calls me to help talk them out of murdering their entire family is the day I take a little closer look at my choice of "friends"....

[hdvh56]

01:24 PM on 05/02/2012

OK,we know he did it,execute him.

[MissTake1989]

05:40 PM on 05/02/2012

Man...that's what I came here to say...

No doubt...no reason he should live.

[hdvh56]

07:07 PM on 05/02/2012

Yeah,it's so frustrating watching these cold blooded murderers drag out a trial for years and then get 3 hots and a cot for the rest of their worthless lives.The process could be speeded waaaaaay up on vermin like this.This case should be closed in a week tops,including the funeral.

[hdvh56]

07:08 PM on 05/02/2012

Fanned also:)

[bmitche]

12:46 PM on 05/02/2012

You watch them come into the world, you love them with all your heart, you change their diapers, you warm their bottles, you protect them, and this is how some will be appreciated.

[Janice Turner]

12:38 PM on 05/02/2012

Grandma saying:"I love you"=Media Hype. Media is always adding to the story and giving it more character..I'm sure grandma was not feeling all grandmotherly, while, not one but two knives were slicing and dicing her body.The only warm and fuzzy she was experimenting, was the warm blood being evicted from her veins and her soul slipping away from her. The eyes of evil were the last thing she was looking into as she crossed over to the other side. Sentimental words of I love you spoken at such a sweet moment? Nah..I doubt it..

[Kayden Heron]

02:48 PM on 05/02/2012

Something tells me you don't have grandparents or grandkids of your own...maybe no emotional ties either?

[Janice Turner]

03:42 PM on 05/02/2012

Why because I look at the reality of it? Yes, I can honestly say ANYONE who is stabbing me to death, all emotional ties are severed...literally. That's probably what was wrong with this boy, no one ever drew lines nor had any boundries established. This kind of mad demonic personality didn't dwell in the youth years ago..Why? Um, because they were taught at an early age to respect and honor their parents and never to be mean or abusive to their grannies. No talking back.. No cussing them out. No stabbing them. Rules were simple as that. Now there isn't any. Sad thing is, this is about someone being brutally stabbed to death, and everyone is immune to that; all they see is how sweet it is that dying granny gurgled in her own blood..'I love you'...I don't know about you..but I sure wouldn't want to be the granny that was just hacked up by a grandchild..with everyone saying, aww how sweet. How unconditional. Awww. To me he wasn't worthy of those words. Pinch Yourselves and Wake up America!

PS: Sorry for being the Grinch that stole the heartwarming joy out of this terrifying story...

[Janice Turner]

04:10 PM on 05/02/2012

And yes, I do have emotional ties. Very much so. And that’s why this story scares the hell out of me; because there is people like this breathing the same air that my daughters, my parents, and my grandparents breathe. Just a little too close to comfort for me. So I could give a crap that his granny said, ‘I love you’, while her guts were hanging out of her stomach. I CARE that people like him are breathing air and free to walk this planet. I CARE a lot…Why? Because I do have emotional ties and I worry about crazed lunatics like him severing those ties. This could have been your parent, or your child, or your grandparent that this sadistic mad man sliced up…now say, ‘ awww how sweet’, to that…

[Mustangallee]

03:04 PM on 05/02/2012

Then your probably not a grandmother! Not even that could make me stop loving my grandchildren!

[gerald1961]

12:32 PM on 05/02/2012

Cut off his head and burn it, throw the rest of him out with the trash.

[cruzzer101]

12:18 PM on 05/02/2012

The boy's got some problems, no doubt. And even worse ones now. Thank god his grandmother's words stopped his murder rampage cold . . . as cold-hearted as her death. And what a woman to speak her true feelings on her deathbed (or bath, if you want to make it a literal thing) . . . she loved him enough to have forgiven him, even as he was murdering her . . .

What kind of love does that take? . . . very hard to find . . .

[chmdeeringconst]

12:04 PM on 05/02/2012

really.... put him in a tub and stab him to death.... that is all he deserves... how are these people allowed to walk the streets..... whoever he called obviously knew he was deranged, I'm sure this wasn't his first thought of murder.... I have no empathy for this sub human or any one like him

[desireewhyte]

11:43 AM on 05/02/2012

No one was there to witness that woman saying "I Love You" in her last breath. Not saying it couldn't happen, but we are taking it from the word of someone who just viciously stabbed his Grandma to death. Just saying...

[Bunny Olesen]

04:00 AM on 07/07/2012

Shut up, whats so hard to believe that she said it - and her words made him regret both what he'd done and stop him from killing more people?

[desireewhyte]

08:53 PM on 07/08/2012

Hmmm, you know what? You're right. He should just get probation. :)