MCKINNEY, Texas — New details from an affidavit obtained by WFAA revealed more about what led police to the discovery of a 35-year-old woman who was found dead at a home in McKinney on Sunday.
McKinney police said they arrested 42-year-old Chad Christopher Stevens after they executed a search warrant of his home in the 600 block of Pearson Avenue, where they found the body of Heather Louise Schwab. Stevens was arrested on a charge of tampering with evidence.
An affidavit for the search warrant outlined the police investigation, and how it culminated with Sunday's search:
Schwab's mother filed a missing persons report for her daughter on June 28, the affidavit said, after one of Stevens' neighbors told her she'd not seen Schwab in several months.
Schwab was in a relationship with Stevens and her mother told police the relationship was full of abuse, according to the affidavit. Schwab's mother told police that her daughter told her on multiple occasions that she feared Stevens would kill her, the affidavit said.
After the missing persons report was filed, police interviewed Stevens and he told police that Schwab had left him a year prior and he hadn't seen or heard from her since then, according to the affidavit. Stevens added that he did not know Schwab's whereabouts and there weren't any more leads in the case until Nov. 3, the affidavit said.
On that day, McKinney police were contacted again by Schwab's mother, who said she was told by Stevens' ex-wife and daughter that they heard Stevens said he killed Schwab and buried her in his backyard, the affidavit said.
Police interviewed Stevens' ex-wife and daughter, who live out of state, on Nov. 4. Stevens' daughter told police she had spoken to him over the phone on Nov. 2, when they got into an argument.
According to the affidavit, Stevens' daughter told police that he threatened to kill her in that phone call, and she said he shouldn't make threatening statements because "people will believe him and take him seriously." She also mentioned that she heard it was reported his girlfriend had gone missing, the affidavit said.
"Oh, so you think I killed her?" Stevens responded to the mention of Schwab, according to the arrest affidavit.
The affidavit said Stevens started asking her "how she knew about his backyard and a bunch of other random things" that she had not brought up in the conversation. He then, according to the affidavit, made statements about "how even if had had done something to Heather, he would only get five years in prison for hiding the body and he knew that because he had researched it."
In the interview with Stevens' ex-wife and daughter, they told police that Stevens mentioned the backyard on several occasions, the affidavit said.
Based on that new interview and the report from Schwab's mother on alleged past abuse, McKinney police said they got a search warrant for Stevens' home. Police executed the search warrant on Sunday, Nov. 12, and found Schwab's body, multiple cellphones, a laptop, an iPod, miscellaneous plastic wrap, trash bag, tape and other items.
According to sources, Schwab's body was found in the refrigerator of the home, fully decomposed.
Police arrested Stevens at the scene on a charge of tampering with evidence, officials said. The investigation is ongoing and still in very early stages, police said.
A spokesperson for the Schwab family gave WFAA the following statement:
"Her family is beyond grief-stricken and broken-hearted. We appreciate all of the thoughts and prayers that our family is receiving. We are so grateful to the McKinney Police Department for their hard work and dedication in finding Heather. We would appreciate privacy for her family and children as we process through this devastating time.”
Stevens also has an assault charge from a previous relationship earlier in the year, according to a separate arrest affidavit filed on Nov. 9. Police interviewed another woman who said she met him in June of 2022 and moved in with him around September of 2022. According to this second affidavit, she stayed with Stevens until January of 2023 after he allegedly assaulted her when she tried to leave.
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