Man said he ‘panicked,' kept missing person’s body in bathtub for days, Indiana police say

Dwight Shotts, 42, talked to detectives about the disappearance of 35-year-old Anthony Cline, an Indianapolis, Indiana, man who hadn’t been seen since April 24, according to authorities.

But the following week, Shotts was crying on the phone with a 911 dispatcher, saying Cline’s dead body had been in a bathtub for days, police said, FOX 59 reported.

“Well, this is a rough one. I don’t know how I’m going to explain it,” Shotts said on the call. “There’s a dead guy in my house.”

When the dispatcher asked what happened, Shotts confirmed that an altercation had taken place, but that it happened “a while back.”

“I panicked, put him in the tub, and now he’s been in the tub, and now he stinks. I don’t know what to do,” Shotts said, according to FOX 59.

Officers found Cline’s body in the tub when they got to the home, the Indianapolis Star reported. The coroner’s office ruled that he died from a gunshot wound to the head.

Shotts allegedly told the operator Monday afternoon that he shot Cline in his bathroom and was ready to kill himself, according to court documents obtained by the Indianapolis Star. But he had a different story when he was questioned at the station, authorities said.

Police said Shotts not only denied the shooting, but that he said a second person shot Cline — and then gave Shotts the gun as he was leaving the home. Shotts said he didn't call the cops because he was afraid, police said, ABC 6 reported.

He allegedly arranged to buy oxycodone pills from Cline at his home when the man was killed; Shotts said the shooter killed Cline to collect “monies owed,” according to police, the news station reported.

Shotts didn’t have an answer for why he was suicidal about a crime someone else allegedly committed, police said, the Indy Star reported.

Shotts is charged with murder, ABC 6 reported.

This story was originally published May 3, 2018 at 5:12 PM with the headline "Man said he ‘panicked,' kept missing person’s body in bathtub for days, Indiana police say."